We’ve all found ourselves tied up in one way or another: too much schoolwork, too many activities, friends demanding our time. Well, no matter how you’ve found yourself tied up, we’ve all found ourselves tied to one mountain, some for as many as 13 years. Though confined, we all have managed to wiggle around in our bonds to the hill and create other long-lasting ties. We’ve been engaged from the start, ever since learning to tie our shoes in elementary, tying those blue and black shoes that everyone had to wear. Elementary was a carefree time that no one can forget. I know I can’t. I mean, come on, don’t you remember performing at the May Day and Christmas programs, celebrating the Multicultural Festival in 3rd grade, or even getting tangled and tied up in your rope at Jump Rope for Heart? Ah, the fond memories of our “rigorous” PE program, which included the now infamous cockroach dance. As the years marched on, our class grew in size. Well, I think most people grew anyway. But with the addition of 60+ kids in 4th grade, our friendships grew to a then astounding number wit...
island and has become tangled on some rocks on the mountain. A rumor of a
When I was in elementary school, I loved to read. I was a total nerd back then ... okay maybe I still am, but one thing has changed. Now I don't so much like reading. My favorite poet was Shel Silverstein, who wrote "Where the Sidewalk Ends." He seemed like he was a total hippie, but that's cool because I like hippies. My grandma is a recovering hippie. I like her too. Anyway, Shel Silverstein wrote about the coolest things. He wrote about magical erasers, eating whales and a boy with long hair flying away from people who were taunting him. He captured all of the things that I loved without knowing that I actually loved them. Now you may ask, how does this hippie relate to our graduation? Well, he wrote a poem entitled "Traffic Light" and this is how it goes:
Good evening. Some of you out there may not realize this but those of you who attended Suntime Middle School have been with this guy for the last seven years. I would like to ask you all, not just Suntime Middle School grads and who all else, to join me in thanking Mr. Weather for his patience and dedication to the success of our education over the years. We are the Class of 2000. The first graduating class of the new millennium. The past four years have been pretty wild. We started out as a bunch of rats in a small cage, but as time went by we learned and matured and became big rats in a new small cage, but in any case, the cage door is now opening; the handlers turning us wild things loose. As we leave "Where the Wild Things Are," home to some of the best cat fights, fist fights and food fights this side of the Cascades, I have a little surprise for all of you sitting in front of me here tonight in your caps and gowns … we ain’t seen nothing yet!
As far as I could remember, since we've been growing up, we've had lots of good times and memories together. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were spending whole weekends at each other's houses, staying up all night getting carpal tunnel trying to win concert tickets on the radio. Whenever I think back to all the good times we've had, I can always picture myself laughing so hard, holding my stomach, trying to keep the tears from falling. Actually, wasn't that just yesterday? We started out inseparable and as we grew up sadly the weekend long sleepovers became fewer and fewer but nevertheless we still call each other and see each other whenever we're able to steal a few moments between those grown up responsibilities like work and relationships. Even though we're all grown up, some things never change. We still crack each other up and still have our "secret" language that only the two of us can understand like "Woodchuck to Grey Squirrel......come in Grey Squirrel" or "nduh". And even though I will always cherish the memories we've made and will make, it is time for us to create new ones.
Many people think it is vital to surround yourself with a group of friends and to belong, especially when you are in high school. After watching the pilot episode of Freaks and Geeks, it is evident there are several great examples of interpersonal communication, as well as numerous types of friendships. These varying relationship examples will be discussed.
When I was chosen to speak tonight, I thought that as a track athlete it would be appropriate to compare life to a race. Life is a race, a race to each milestone in our lives.
This longitudinal perspective opens up the possibility that the peer social environment is one that is dynamic. Friendships can be added and terminated resulting in the number of friends reported changes from childhood into and through adolescence. Children moving from intimate elementary classroom settings into a broader age range of adolescents in junior high and high school increases the potential for developing friendships with older adolescents. At the same time, the quality of the relationships with these friends may also be changing. Adolescent relationships are becoming more intimate than those of childhood with the sharing of intimate feelings and being aware of the needs of others becoming a prominent feature of friendship during adolescence.
Are we there yet? I have asked this question many times on road trips, only to hear the answer, "It's only one more mile, I promise." Of course, our destination was never just one more mile. It seemed as though we would never reach our destination. The one idea I neglected by asking the question, "Are we there yet?" is the notion that it's not the destination that is important, but the journey itself.
It is probably a mistake that I am standing here giving a speech for graduation. In fact it is probably a mistake that I am even graduating from this school at all -- believe me, just as most people in this class I have tested the limits of attendance, of sleeplessness, and of procrastination. At the beginning of my high schooling, I was even testing dropping out ... and if that wasn't a mistake, I don't know what was. After four years of Starr altering our minds, it seemed most fitting for me to spend my four minutes talking about mistakes. Thank goodness for them, by the way -- it is only when we truly screw up big time that we are ever stopped in our tracks -- stopped, briefly, to learn lessons of worth.
Initial contact came the moment he caught my eye during cross-country. I perceived immediate attraction and my friends began referring to him as Paige’s crush. Similarity of interests connected us and provided opportunities for interactional contact through high school soccer. The relationship developed from afar as we watched and learned about each other through the proximity of our neighborhoods, living only a mile apart. Exhilarating, heart-pumping rushes of emotion overwhelmed me each time John called. Showing Interest, John pursued me and wanted to spend time together. Our personalities meshed. Uncontrollable Duchenne smiles took over when I saw or thought about him. Team dinners required no need to speak because our nonverbal communication and eye contact said it all, demonstrated by winks and silly faces. By the end of the summer we were bound and officially dating.
Even though we weren’t peas in a pod, there definitely are many memories we share together. Like the grade twelve bonding sessions that consisted of eating ice cream and cake in the foyer. Cassy having multiple hair styling requests each morning in homeroom, or the doggy piles on poor Dylan in gym class. I can say that having dance sessions in gym while Mr.Hardern tried to take us seriously is something I will...
We've known each other most of our school lives, but we never really "hung out" together until the seventh grade, when we all went to Junior High. There, cliques were formed; the popular and the unpopular began to separate. Most kids joined in massive groups to eat lunch. But we found each other and stayed in our group of four. Why?...because with our small group we could share our opinions and be heard. In those big groups, it's hard to get your opinions out. Another reason is because we shared a common interest: computers and computer games.
High school. I never realized it would bring so many changes. As I walked on to campus my freshman year, my mindset was the same as it was in eighth grade; the young are invincible. And although I was excited to come to high school I had many fears. Would the classes be too hard, would I make new friends, what could I become involved in, and most of all -- what if I get lost? All of these fears eventually subsided and I, along with all of you, found the right classes and the right teachers. We all made new friends. We all got involved in something. During my freshman year, innocence surrounded me and although eventually my shell would crack, not until this year have I broken through. This year I decided that it is time to soar on my own. Graduation is the beginning of a new flight for all of us, the class of 1997.
While our parents help and support us while growing, our friends will grow with us. These valuable attachments are cherished and needed, and their emotional embrace will always comfort us. With these friends we enter the world of education, our basis to survive in the outside world.
.... Mountain Interval." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More. Bartleby.com. Web. 03 Apr. 2011. .