Wow, three years have passed and the last day is just as long as the first. Three years of hard discipline and learning to get used to homework every night. Three years of standing on the front steps waiting for my parents and saying goodbye to my teachers. I never thought the goodbye might be permanent. 6th grade came and I was looking up at those giant 8th graders, and now I guess I’m one of them. 6th grade, and I was saying hello, and now 8th grade has come and it’s gone from introductions to goodbyes as my last days as a middle school student wind down.
8th grade, 8th grade from the opening day to the signing of the yearbooks. This is the year of memories, goodbyes, and regrets. 8th grade and I’m still realizing that there are people in the world that would die to go to a school like this. A school where every body knows everyone’s name, respects everyone, and where violence and fighting are about as common as the Yankees missing the playoffs. When I’m done with my homework and go to bed, as the days of 8th grade wind down, summer will come and go, and I will find myself in one of those giant, scary places called high school.
The first time I heard C.R.I.S.P. all I could think of was my mom’s rich apple pies. Now C.R.I.S.P. has more of a meaning. Every day I see C.R.I.S.P. in the hallways and classrooms, not only on the walls but among my fellow students. Everyone wants to help each other out because that’s the way we work here. Everyone tries hard to do their best and be the best person they can be.
Looking back on my three years at Twin Cities Academy, I find myself wondering how all these years came and went so fast. I still watch myself walking through the same halls and sitting in the same classrooms as I did back in 6th and 7th grade and I’ve seen myself grow so much, mentally, socially and physically. I still remember everything that has happened throughout my years, the best of times, and the worst.
So here I am, not sure if I’m trying to stretch out my final days in a school that has taught me so much, or waiting for a 90-day-straight school-free period. I guess I want to savor these final days with some students that I just met, and some that I’ve known for 3 years because this may be the last time that I see them.
Good morning teachers, faculty, administrators, family, friends, and of course students. It is a great privilege to be standing here today and representing our class on our eighth grade Class Day. Can you believe it? Four years ago, most of us walked into this school as nervous as we were the first day of school. We were the tiny fifth graders, the youngest students in this middle school, not knowing where anything was and how to navigate the school. Now, those same four years later, we’re leaving this school behind to a whole new school being just as nervous as we were when we first arrived. It has been a long four years as well as a short four years. Long because of all the tests, quizzes, finals, and projects, but short because of the lifelong friendships, the lasting memories, and the truly interesting and amazing things we learned in-between. The Abington Heights Middle School is definitely a welcoming, fun, memorable, and great school that I will never forget. These four years spent with these wonderful classmates has been an extraordinary journey with many cherishable memories.
Good evening, everyone we are here tonight to honor the 8th graders from Heninger Elementary k-8 who have finally completed all of middle school. I’m one of the students at Heninger, I’ve attended Heninger since kindergarten, and in my time here, I learned how to set goals and how to accomplish them. My fellow classmates and I am here tonight at our 8th grade promotion from Heninger Elementary we are the graduating class of 2018.
There comes a time in every modern day preteen’s life when they have to go through this traumatizing, dramatic, and awful experience called Middle School. It’s one of the more challenging transitions I’ve ever faced. We go through hormonal changes, class changes, freedom changes and overcome new experiences. Middle school is that place where they throw you to transition through that awkward stage. I find it to be absolute hell and a general pain. But it’s within all the hell, drama, trauma, pain and crap that we all take that prepare us for high school and lets us truly find ourselves.
In the past four years, I have made strides at my high school much farther than I could ever imagine. Old Colony began as an escape plan from Apponequet, but as time progress I really have made a place for myself within the school. And as I graduate in a few months, I look back to all the wonderful memories and progressions I have achieved while there and smile.
I can almost remember that day like it was yesterday, I awoke like on any other school day. It was a gorgeous May morning, the rays of sun flittered through my miniblinds blinding me as if I hadn’t seen light in days. I sluggishly dragged my limp body out of my warm bed, retiring to the bathroom to perform my normal morning rituals shower, shave, brush my teeth, get dressed, do my hair, and all the other regulars. As I looked at myself while combing my hair, it hit me like a speeding express train, I was about to graduate. I couldn’t help but smile, but at the same time I felt like a part of me was drifting away. A tear came to my eye as I realized what was about to happen to me.
All through high school you hear, “these four years fly by fast.” I never believed it until it happened to me. The day of graduating was finally here. I sat through a two-hour long ceremony and waited for my name to be called, along with 375 other class members. I was drenched in sweat walking across the field for my diploma and my ears buzzed from my cheering family members. Without knowing this experience would change me forever.
An anonymous author once said, "What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now." Over the course of my school years, it has been an exciting and shocking experience. These experiences have been an enjoyable journey from my elementary to middle school years. However, after several years the end of my middle school adventure is coming to a close. Soon my new journey will start as a freshman. Eight grade will surely be one of my most memorable years. It has been an absolute wonderful one hundred eighty days, and I will miss some of the aspects of eight grade—but certainly not all of it.
Through these fun and challenging times each one of us has built strong relationships. Whether it was with friends or a teacher, we have developed connections and memories that will be with us forever, even if we lose contact with those individuals. Some students have discovered they have a passion for writing through a creative writing class or want to have a career in business from taking Mr. Ide’s inspirational marketing classes. Others have participated in CLIP or summer school to catch up and make it possible for them to be here today. I went to Heights Elementary and have spent the last 12 years with the same group of people. Attending school with the people I’ve known since elementary and middle school, and making homecoming posters with them for four years in a row, has given me a chance to get to know the people around me better than I ever thought I would.
Good afternoon everyone. Friends, family, staff members, honored guests and fellow graduates. On behalf of the Grad Class of 2016, we were selected by our class to give some parting words. Today is our day. After thirteen years of knowing only these walls around us, our time here has come to an end. We are officially stepping forward into our futures. No longer united on one path, as we are now branching off on our own, taking our own paths.
Valedictorian Speech Good evening fellow graduates, teachers, family members, friends, and distinguished guests. It is a tremendous honor to be the valedictorian of our graduating class. My job is to somehow be the voice of the entire graduating class, and take five minutes to say a few words on behalf of all 539 of us. Like most valedictorians, writing this speech was not an easy task for me. Not because I did not have anything to say, but because I was overwhelmed by how much I wanted to share with you all on this day. Tonight, we have one common purpose, to celebrate. We are here to congratulate, to look towards what the future holds for us, to wish each other well, and to, most importantly look back on our time spent here. So, I would like to start by saying 'well done' to my fellow graduates, who have all worked hard during the past several years to reach this milestone. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the graduating class for selecting me to speak here tonight. Ever since the news broke, many people, some who've I've never really met before, have come up to me and have wished me well. Perhaps this speech would be incomplete if I don’t say something to the teachers. On the behalf of my entire class, I would like to thank all my teachers: thank you. Thank you for teaching us, for leading us, for building us up as adults. I know that we have not given back to you the respect you deserve. I know that we have not told you how much we appreciate you taking time out of your schedules to help us. And I know that we have not said thank you for giving us a wonderful education. So, I hope that as I say thanks, you can forget our shortcomings and remember us for who we are and not from the mistakes we have made. ...
Having spent twelve years of my school life in just one small red brick building, the years tend to fade into each other. But the year I remember most clearly and significantly is my senior year of high school, where I finally began to appreciate what this institution offered to any student who stopped to look. Before, school had been a chore, many times I simply did not feel motivated toward a subject enough to do the homework well, and seeing the same familiar faces around ever since I was 5 years old grew very tiring soon enough. But I began to see things from a different angle once I became a senior.
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.
The majority of people say that high school is the best years of your life, and that saying holds true because high school has truly made a positive impact on my life. High school has cocurriculars, classes of various levels such as basic, academic, honors, or advanced placement, and various opportunities such as athletic sports. I have had a traditional high school experience, but the memories that I have made along the way have been priceless. It is sad for me to think that this amazing part of my life is almost over. During this time in my life, I tend to look back and reminisce on the moments that I shared throughout my high school experience. I realize that I have been blessed with the opportunity to meet so many amazing faculty members and friends that truly changed my life. High school allowed me to figure out who I truly am and helped me realize what I want to do with my life, high school enabled me to figure out my strengths and weaknesses, and high school reminds me of a mountain climb.
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: 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.