What is graduation? Some people would say that it's proof of the freedom we will soon experience. Some say that it's the end of the best years of our lives. Some would say that it's when we're forced to grow up and become adults. Some would say that it's just another day, no different than any other day, other than the scrolls, the funny outfits and the clapping. Some go into it silent, awaiting their chance to be recognized for their victory dance. Some use stupid comparisons to describe it by saying that it's like the opening of a new door or that it's like taking another step on the never-ending ladder of life. Some praise it, some dread it. Everyone has a different opinion, but there's one thing that we all agree on. There's one question on the back of all our minds that we worry about every time we think about this night. And that question is: What's next?
There are a thousand things that can be compared to graduation, and some of them may be pretty accurate, but none of them can come close to the reality of what graduation really is. Graduation can't be described in words, other than it's an event 12 years in the making. We've waited 12 years, move than half our lives, to stand on a stage with a funny hat and robe, which if I'd see someone walking down the street wearing I'd throw something at them. But it's just really hard to think about. Twelve of our 18 years on this planet have been spend working towards this single night. From the building blocks in kindergarten, to kick and wallball in fourth and fifth grade. From standing in circles putting your arm around your girlfriend's waist in seventh and eighth grades, to pulling an all-nighter in Abbot's class in eleventh grade. It all prepares us.
Now, the people I k...
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...e questions that's on all of our minds: What is next? Well, what's next is up to us. It's up to us to accomplish those goals we set for ourselves. It's up to us to decide whether we'll choose stagnation or generativity. It's up to us to accept the reality of seriousness and the beauty that can be derived from it. And it's up to us to remember these past 12 years and move on to bigger and better things while at the same time remembering the experiences we've had with our friends and family, because these times are the best years of our lives. Everything else is just a remix. These times are the foundation of our lives, and just like a house is built up from the foundation, our lives will be built up from these past 12 years. I just made a corny graduation analogy, but I don't care. The feelings in this room tonight can't be put into words, but they can be remembered.
The idea of this has many emotions going through all of us. Excitement, Anxiety, Anticipation, Sadness, Confusion, and Joy. Despite all of these emotions I think it's safe to say that we all have so many years of experience and lessons to learn from. Like don’t staple your fingers or stick a pair of scissors in a electrical outlet. It is the lessons learned at those times that will not only guide us through the next four years of our lives, but also give us something to look back at a laugh at. Dr. Seuss has a quote very similar to our class quote, "Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.” This quote not only applies to the past 9 years of our lives but also the next 4 years. Even though we will mostly all be going to different high schools, our lives will continue on. Making new friends, gaining more experiences and of course making new memories. As we move on to the next chapter of our lives, we will be going forth not knowing what is to come and hopefully never forgetting where we came
Class of 2012, we've finally made it, but not without the help of our parents, teachers and mentors along the way. Maybe what they did for us was that they were a good rudder and we're the ship, and they got us to the sea where we remember who we are. Because we all get in that fog, where we forget who we are or what we're about, we get overwhelmed. I mean I've been there plenty of times in my life. But we're not going to remember most of our lives until the end. But we will remember certain moments. Maybe it's our first 4.0 report card, maybe it's our first 100 percent biology test, maybe it's our first homerun, our first touchdown. Whatever it may be, it will stay with us forever. Many of us have been together through elementary, middle and high school, and we have all had to work hard and remain focused to be where we are today. All change happens in a minute. Your life changes in a moment. Something triggers you and you finally make a decision and it all shifts. As years go by, your body is going to change, your relationships are going to change, your attitude is going to change. Change is automatic, but progress is not. Our progress has brought us here tonight, and tonight will become one of those moments that we will cherish forever.
Four stressful years, 28 credits, and innumerable hours of no sleep. I will walk across stage and receive my diploma with a grin of accomplishment. I am proud to share that I will be the first high school graduate in my families generation, but I do not want to settle for a high school diploma I want to honor my family and complete
Commencement is a critical juncture in our lives; it is a momentous occasion where we believe we are about to start anew. However, graduation is the bittersweet moment where the forces of past and future are simultaneously acting on us. Consequently, the past is not dead. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, suggests that our past experiences will be with us forever as he states, " [we] are a part of all that [we] have met; yet all experience is an arch where through gleams that untraveled world." That is why graduation, similar to other turning points in our lives, possesses two halves, which accentuate each other. We are looking forward, but the "arch" of experience beckons us to remember, value, and learn from our past experiences. Thus, I feel that in order to appreciate commencement fully, we must remember our own past, and in particular, the last four years:
You’re walking through the doors to the next four years of your life. You picture one big day coming out of the four years spent here. Graduation day. Walking across the stage with your cap and gown on along with the rest of your class. The feeling of accomplishment. Finally, after all those years of going to school, it comes down to this day. Suddenly, dark clouds start rolling in and lighting strikes. You’re half way through sophomore year and its all taken away. Graduation is just a dream you once had. No more school, no more hanging out with friends and no more school events. It’s time to grow up, leave school behind and start to help supporting your family. This is the new life that many teenagers are being forced to live.
The day we graduate will be the completion of fourteen years in school. Fourteen years of going to school (Pre-K-12th Grade). This is considered an accomplishment; one to be celebrated. This day is so important that family from across the U.S. will take off work to come see. They will descend upon Salem from thousands of miles away to watch me walk across a stage, and receive a document for my achievement. Standing among my peers on this day to show we mastered the supposed basic skills to lead us through the rest of our lives. I do not believe this should be celebrated, or that it is an accomplishment.
Through out life people go through so many hardships. Whether it be good or bad there is always something that comes out of the situation. One of the most exciting but yet scariest events would be graduation. For a lot of people, graduating from high school is a goal. It takes a lot of time and effort to achieve that goal. In the long run, it opens a lot of opportunities for people to succeed. Graduation is the end of high school, and the beginning to life.
I had been waiting for this evening to come for four years. In a few hours it came and went, but it was an important time in my life. Graduation night was the end of one life and the beginning of a new life with different problems, worries and joys.
“The future stretches before me, waiting for me to create the work of art that will become my life.” We have entered an age for celebration, an era to memorialize who we were, who we are and who we will eventually become. Celebrate this milestone greater than all the others, for it is the time we have spent here in our high school careers that will always be held close to heart.
This is shown in the song Graduation by Vitamin C. Graduation is about the change of leaving high school and moving on to adulthood. It shows the many questions young people have about leaving school, and uncertainty of the future. At the same time, it shows the constant of friendship that people can rely on, when many other things in their life are changing.
You know, it is really strange how quickly time passes, after spending my whole childhood wishing I was an adult, now here we are and it's a little hard to grasp. It feels like just yesterday I was standing here in the same position at eighth grade graduation. Ahh, middle school, such a joyous time for all of us, free of maturity and not a care in the world. The biggest decisions I ever had to make then was deciding which group to stand with at passing time and choosing which shirt from my extensive collection of Stussy and No Feat apparel to wear. We were all naive to the danger that lurked just around the corner. We were unaware that the carefree world we lived in was about to come crashing to the ground in a blazing inferno of real school work and responsibility ... otherwise known as high school.
For most people their graduation day is one of the best days of their lives. No more high school, and for some it means that they are now able to move out on their own and embark on the independent journey of college. In my case my graduation day started out to be a great day but turned out to be one of the worst. It is almost as if I wish I never had a ceremony. If there wasn't graduation ceremony there wouldn't have been an accident.
Good evening parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and friends. I would like to thank you all for coming to this very special day. I know how proud you must be. As we have grown over the years, there are many stages we all have gone through. From learning our shapes and colors, to getting our first kiss in middle school, or how about explaining to our parents why we skipped school because the principal called home. As we remember these days, things that we've done will be with us forever. But this is only the start of our journey. The day has come where we say goodbye to the big yellow buses, assemblies, assigned seating, and attendance policies. Are you really gonna miss it? For some of us maybe not right away. But eventually we will so for us to be here it is not necessarily an achievement, but a privilege. All of us have been in school over half our lives. To graduate is one more step we've taken in our lives.
Graduation was the most important day in my life. I waited for this amazing day for twelve years to reach my dream and move on to college. For most people, graduation is a memorable day. It is hard for me to forget it even after a hundred years. The day I woke up realizing it was my graduation day, I was smiling all day long knowing that I had made my family proud of me. I remember everything about my graduation day: my party, cake, dress, makeup, hair, cap and gown, and the gifts I got from family and friends.
Graduation: the last day that I would unwillingly set foot on the fields of Horizon High School. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest, and tried so hard to keep my feet moving one after the other in order to maintain my perfect stature. After the two hour wait of opening speeches, class songs, and the calling off of the five hundred plus names that were in front of me, it was finally my turn. As my row stood up and we walked towards the stage it had set in at last, this is it, I am done. My high school career ended on that night, but it didn’t close the book that is my life, it only started a new chapter, and with it came a whole slue of uncertainties.