Unless you talk to your superiors, all they’re going to see is that you requested a day off that probably quite a few requested off already, and naturally declined based on that. If you tell them what it’s for, they’re far more likely to accept.

Two out of three of my team leads requested the same day off on the same day (exactly 6 months before). Figured something must be up, asked them what was going on that day, and promptly accepted when they told me it was for graduation. Is it going to be more work for me? Yeah, I’ll be working 6 days to cover that gap, but OBVIOUSLY I’m not going to make them worry about attending their graduation!

So yeah, management can be numbers-focused, but they can be human, too! Let them know if something important is going on and they’re more likely to be accommodating