The great big orange doors. The doors that we have grown so fond of during our four-year stay at Tropics High School -- the cafeteria doors. In an attempt to get to the Commons a split second faster than the person next to you, how many times have you opened those orange doors so hard and fast that you've gone BAM! and heard a response of a groan ... OW! Then in reaction to the yelp, you turn to see a boy with a freshly swollen red spot right in the middle of his forehead. "Sorry," you say with a cheesy grin and you skidaddle away as fast as you possibly can. You never see this boy ever again, except in the most random places and though you don't know his name, you'll always remember to never open the big orange door so fast and so hard ever again. As insignificant as he was in your life, he has taught you a lesson. Or how about the time at your first pep assembly when everyone around you is on their feet screaming at the top of their lungs to "Go Fight Win" and you, a timid, shy freshman, sat awkwardly not knowing what to do. Deep inside, you know you want to get up and be peppy, but a great fear of looking like a total loser prevents you from doing so. However, as you looked around and saw the spirit of the crowd, the pride in their eyes, and the energy pumping through the entire gymnasium and you thought to yourself, "What the heck!?!" Then you got up and cheered like the rest of your fellow classmates. Every person in that gym showing his or her Royal spirit influenced you to get involved. Because of that single decision, maybe later in your high school career you decided to become a cheerleader or even to help rally up the students at another pep assembly. Everything happens for a reason. And everyone that comes into your life, even the most random people who you thought were nothing more than just random people are there for a reason. They are there to serve some sort of a purpose, to teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be, possibly the closest person in your life or even a complete stranger, but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment they will affect your life in some profound way.
Last year in January, my school cheer team and I accomplished a huge goal. We won nationals. The Owasso team was expected to win this competition, but it was still very difficult to achieve. The competition is held in Dallas, Texas, where thousands of cheerleaders compete to accomplish a once in a lifetime goal. My team only went up against one other team, but still won. The other team was not much better than the Owasso cheerleaders, which does not mean that it was easy. Winning with my dream team gave me an indescribable feeling inside. It was absolutely unreal. We came back home with our winning title ready to begin a new season. Knowing that every other team from all around the state was gunning for us, we were hungry for another win. Another
To the County High School Class of 2012: As you sit in front of me, I know what most of you are thinking at the moment. There are those who are already pondering about what life without high school will be like; those who are debating whether or not to tell your crush tonight about your whispers of adoration you’ve secretly held for four years; some simply want to get out of that ungodly chair, get that thing that isn’t really a diploma but only tells you when to pick up the thing, and then be the first one on the green bus to the grad party — you know who you are. And the rest, well, the rest aren’t even paying attention, you’re thinking, “Great, here comes one of the valedictorian speakers. Next up: a boring speech straight out of the pits of scholarly hell.” And it’s OK, I don’t mind — that sort of thing comes with the territory. But tonight, I ask that you give me a chance to break that stereotype so that I may address you in the full splendor that you deserve after 13 grueling years of work. I do not want to be known as your “valedictorian” as I stand here, c’mon guys, there is no time left to place labels on people anymore, instead I ask that you accept me as one of your peers — and as a man who will enjoy becoming a graduate alongside you.
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote, "You are a very special person - become what you are." These words encourage us, the graduating class of 2012, to recognize the goodness and potential in each and every one of us and to go out and excel in the world. We are a diverse group of different aspirations and backgrounds, bound for different corners of the earth to carve out our won individual niches. Before we leave behind Lee Falls High School and each other, we must ask ourselves how we have become who we are.
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!
Students, faculty, family, friends, on this exciting day, I speak to optimism, laughter, and grins.
Remembering the feeling of embarrassment whacked against the side of my face as I realized that how horrendous I was at swimming. I can reflect back to that moment and say it motivated me to become such an astonishing swimmer. It began when my best friend Anthony, who also recruited me into tennis, was helping the empty swim team recruit members. Anthony was the type of person who would share his thoughts about a particular event and recommended it. “You’d be in shape for the tennis team if you join the swim team, it would also be helpful if you joined since we’re lacking people,” he explained. Participating in the swim team was one of the most remarkable experiences during high school.
Betty Lou is right -- Our achievements of the past four years have been an honor. And so I offer my congratulations to each of you for achieving the honor that comes with high school graduation. Up to this point, high school may be the most exciting and difficult experience of our lives. We've enjoyed the carefree and happy times with WWF-style pep assemblies, dances, Junior T-P nights, and classes with friends. We've had our bad days too, though. The days when we forgot our semester project for C.I. at home, or when we couldn't stop falling asleep and Mr. Gnome made us get up to "open a window." But far worse were the times when we felt alone. We've all had days of personal crisis when we've felt rejected by those around us or alienated from them. Hopefully, we were fortunate enough to have had a friend come rescue us from isolation, but perhaps not.
I'm sure everyone here has seen a picture of a mother duck leading her ducklings. Imagine the mother duck taking her ducklings up some stairs. The mother duck easily climbs the first stair and waits for the other little ducks to climb up. The first duckling stretches its wings as high up in the air as it can and stands on the tips of its little webbed feet. With a little help from its beak it manages to barely make the first step. Sometimes it requires a little help from mama duck to boost itself up. Despite the cute and rather funny part of this picture, it is possible to learn a lot from the ducks. The two ideas we can gain from them are leadership and following. In life each one of us is a leader and a follower at some point.
As you inhale the aggregate odor of your senior class for the last time, I’m sure there are many burning questions racing through your minds: “Will I find my place in the world?” If you’re lucky. “Am I really going to graduate a virgin?” Yeah, probably. “Who is that incredibly handsome young man addressing us, and how long do we have the privilege of listening to him?” Howdy, Andrew Gonzales here, and hopefully not long; I realize that your robes are making you sweat, your thongs are making you uncomfortable, and my use of the words “virgin” and “thongs” is making your parents sweaty and uncomfortable.
I once read that life is well represented as a pearl deep within an oyster. The pearl symbolizes each person's potential, or the things that are going well for them in life. Just as a mere grain of sand that enters an oyster can grow into something of great worth, there is a fragment of excellency within every one of you that over time can be shape you into an individual who will make a difference in the world.
As I look back upon the past four years, in some ways it seems like my time at Kiper has been a lot like a day at the Magic Kingdom.
I would like to thank all of you for coming on such short notice. After all, 18 years hardly seems like enough time to prepare for graduation. In fact, as I stand up here and looking at all of my classmates, I wonder if I am ready to graduate.
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.
Congratulations everyone, congratulations. If you're participating in this graduation ceremony, you've taken the next step toward your future goals and dreams. For those of you that just finished your transfer degrees, congratulations. To those of you that came back to school after a few years off to get a better education, congratulations. To those of you that came to get a certificate or learn IT or computer programming so you can get a better job, congratulations.