Student Goes Viral Over Amazing Graduation Pics With 14 Foot Alligator

Most students celebrate graduation with a cap toss, a slightly chaotic family dinner and about 400 blurry camera roll pics. One student in Texas? She celebrated by kissing a 14-foot alligator.

22-year-old Kat Daley has gone viral after sharing her completely unhinged (in the best way possible) graduation photoshoot with a giant alligator called Big Al. And yes, the pictures are exactly as wild as they sound.

The recent graduate from McNeese State University posed inches away from the massive reptile, even planting a kiss directly on its snout while wearing her graduation gown. Because apparently standard graduation pics in front of a brick wall just weren’t cutting it anymore.

But before anyone starts typing ‘absolutely not’ into the comments, Kat actually works with alligators full time at Gator Country, a reptile rescue park home to hundreds of rescued gators. Big Al isn’t some random swamp resident either - he’s a trained alligator the team works with regularly.

According to Kat, the photoshoot was all about showing a different side to reptiles, especially alligators, which she says are often misunderstood. She’s been working with wildlife since she was seven years old and completed her degree in natural sciences while working full time at the park. Honestly? Multitasking queen behaviour.

The viral pics feature everything from Kat standing in knee-deep water beside Big Al to balancing her graduation cap on the alligator’s nose like it’s the most normal thing in the world. There was even a venomous rattlesnake involved at one point because apparently the alligator alone wasn’t dramatic enough.

Unsurprisingly, the internet has completely lost it over the photos, with thousands of people sharing the snaps across social media. Some people are calling it terrifying, others are calling it iconic - but either way, it’s definitely one of the most memorable graduation shoots we’ve ever seen.

And to be fair, after years of essays, deadlines and pretending you’ve definitely done the reading, graduating next to a 14-foot alligator kind of feels deserved.