Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Transition from high school to university
Graduation speech
Graduation written speeches
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Transition from high school to university
Someone very special in my life once told me, "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off of your goals." Upon entering high school four years ago, the majority of us had one goal and only one goal in mind, graduation. Many of us have heard people say that high school is the best time of our lives, so we better enjoy it. With that in mind, we thought that the next four years were going to be a breeze and before we knew it we would be out of here. Well, that is when reality hit us ... Way back in the first few days of September in 1997, we all took our first steps onto the big campus of Conolon High School. For some of us it was exciting and exhilarating, for others it was scary and nerve wracking or even a little or very intimidating. Whatever the rush of emotions that came over us may have been, it was just the beginning. As lowly little Freshman, we had to adjust to high school life. Going from middle school to high school was a big transition whether we wanted to admit it or not. Some of us thought that the change would be easier if we got involved, so many joined athletics, leadership or a club or two; and then there were some that decided to just focus on their studies. Whichever path we decided to choose, we still had the same goal, to just fit in with everyone and start our long journey towards graduation. For our class, the class of 2006, graduation was not going to come easily. We were the class of "firsts", and it all started Freshman year. During that year we all first experienced sleep deprivation. We were not used to staying up late and then having to get up early. Then along came our Sophomore year. Our second year at Conolon introduced us to the wonderful world of rubrics. We we... ... middle of paper ... ...onight is our night to shine and also our time to set new goals. After we leave tonight's ceremony a new life for us begins. It will be time for us to move on to bigger things and it will be our time to overcome more obstacles. We will move on to college, work, starting new careers and starting families. I have faith in each and everyone of you that you will make your dreams become reality. Just remember that if you stay focused on what you want, do what you want and be who you are, your accomplishments will be endless. All of the obstacles that we have encountered and come face to face with during our high school journey, just proved how determined we were to reach our goal of graduation. To add to the long list of "firsts" I would like to be one of the first people to wish Conolon's first class of the new millennium congratulations. Congratulations class of 2006!
Making the transition from middle school to high school is a huge stepping stone in a teenager’s life. High school represents both the ending of a childhood and the beginning of adulthood. It’s a rite of passage and often many teens have the wrong impression when beginning this passage. Most began high school with learning the last thing on their mind. They come in looking for a story like adventure and have a false sense of reality created through fabricated movie plots acted out by fictional characters. In all actuality high school is nothing like you see in movies, television shows, or what you read about in magazines.
These last four years have been rough on me but luckily there have been some lessons learned through it. I have just looked forward and moved on to greater things in life. I leave behind the bad and move on to the good. A good quote to describe my adventure through high school is when Jeannette is talking to her mother. The mother says, “ Things usually work out in the end,” to where Jeannette replies, “What if they don’t?” The mother answers with, “That just means you haven’t come to the end yet.” The quote describes my struggles in life and also brings hope for a happier
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:
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:
Family, friends, and educators, I would like to thank you all for your support in coming out today to commemorate the Hoover High School Class of 2015 commencement. However, your support today is not where the extent of our gratitude lies, it lies within each and every single day of hard work and motivation that you all put in for my classmates and for myself to be successful. You are the reason that we are able to walk across this stage, and I think it goes without saying that each and every one of them deserve a standing ovation.
Over the past four years, we have grown from insecure, immature freshmen to successful, focused and confident young adults. This incredible transformation has been the result of our entire high school experience. Everything from that first homecoming game, to late night cramming, to the last dance at prom. These experiences have pulled us together as a class and we have learned to love and respect our fellow classmates.
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.
First of all, I'd like to welcome all the parents, relatives and friends, on behalf of the senior class. It has been a long, hard road to graduation and I know your presence here is greatly appreciated. My job as salutatorian is to reminisce on our past here at County High, a past that reads like a script of a soap opera.
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.
As I prepared this speech, this quote came to mind as I realized how many of you have left footprints on my heart over the past four years. I have may wonderful memories that I will cherish forever. I remember embarrassing moments when a teacher misunderstood what I said, and then my classmates teased me mercilessly. I remember a time in math class when a student fell asleep and was tied to his chair and chalk dust was thrown all over him. I remember teepee wars and dissecting old smelly eyeballs and cute little minks in biology, staying up all night to finish thesis papers, and taking endless flashcard quizzes. I remember when I was in the hospital my friends visited me and cheered me up. I remember crying together when a coach and two of our peers passed away. We have definitely been through a lot together. But tonight is not only a celebration of the end of high school, it is a celebration of the beginning of our future.
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.
Everybody in high school looks forward to graduation day. I was looking forward to graduation myself, but I had a higher goal in mind. I wanted to be in the top 20% of my graduating class. At the beginning I didn’t know how I was going to get there, but I knew that no goal was ever too hard for me to accomplish. Failure wasn’t an option, so I kept my mind set on the bigger picture. Hard work, dedication, and wise decision making helped me to accomplish my graduation goal.
People should take notice that seniors are more structurally developed and better adapted to the real world than freshmen. Fortunately for freshmen, adjusting to the surrounding environment gets easier as time progresses. Though high school is new and intimidating, freshmen have so much to look forward to as well as seniors. Freshmen get a taste of the advantages high school brings along with it while seniors get to claim the title as “upperclassmen” and take charge of their senior year. The difference between these two classes is quite apparent; however, everyone must undergo mental and physical development to prosper as teenagers or young
For those of you who do not know who I am, I am Tiffany Perez. On behalf of the senior class of 2015 I would like to welcome you and thank you all for sharing this special night with us. Each one of you is here because you have impacted the life of at least one of our graduates and for that you all deserve a big round of applause (applause). When I heard that one person was going to be asked to give the Farewell Address at the Baccalaureate Mass I immediately knew I wanted to take this assignment very seriously and thought long and hard about how to go about this in a way that would be appropriate enough to please the teachers but would not be too boring- I mean appropriate- that it would put you all to sleep. So I thought
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. ...