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Will you be who you were meant to be, or will you be who everyone wants you to be. It is up to you to decide your destination, but it is the events along the way that shape the final outcome. As we sit here at graduation, having suffered and prospered through four years at County High School, it is hard to forget the memories we've shared. At the same time, it is easy to see how the past four years have shaped who we are today and impacted our future forever. Who can forget being a freshman: finally out of middle school, we took on the world in a school of 1,400 that was only suited for 900. We've sat in not only moldy portables but also condemned bleachers, seen rusty water, squished together in the gym to display our spirit and learned what it means to truly work hard. We took the challenge presented to us and chose to succeed in one way or another. Whether on the playing field, in the classroom, with an instrument or in the community, the launching of our high school career began our journey and began the adventure to become our destiny. And who can forget the friendships we've made along the way? Some will last a lifetime, and some will last no longer than tomorrow, but either way, it's okay because we will forever be impacted by it. As a class, we've laughed together, cried together, skipped class, failed tests, aced tests we forgot we were taking and now, we're graduating together. Whatever the event, we did it as a whole. Through all of this, there were the teachers of Arlington High School. Of the finest quality, I doubt anyone would argue they are masters of making us mad and then being our biggest ally. Remember the sodium bomb in chemistry? How about the career search, the I search and the scholarly paper in English? We are now masters at finding the slope of a line courtesy of the math department, and who hasn't had the quadratic formula engrained in their mind? All because of the teachers who have supported us through these past years. Without them, our outcome in life would be dismally different. They taught us to be who we are and proud of it at that. And now - guess what - it's up to us. We are the beholders of tomorrow, and we determine the future.
Right now, most of you reading this are twenty somethings with extremely bright futures ahead of you. Many of you were the stars of your high school, if not area, if not state, if not country. Then you got here and things changed. All of a sudden, everything was challenging. From the first moment you got here you were in competition with all the other freshmen for spots in a fraternity, sorority, independent living group, or dorm. You compared SAT scores, compared achievements, and found that they, like you, were amazingly accomplished. Many were National Merit Scholars, AP Scholars, Governor’s School participants, Math Olympiad winners, Science Fair winners, and Scholarship recipients.
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.
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.
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!
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
Remember freshmen year: that infatuation with older students, and how being friends with a senior gave you immeasurable social status? There were some sophomores who didn’t tease us for being freshmen, and we clung to them. Remember walking in late to every class on the first day of school, and maybe the second... maybe the third... Every morning we rode the yellow school bus. Our first pep assembly was amazingly loud and we walked out half-deaf. The cheerleaders were trying to get us to shout something, alter we figured out it was "double-oh." Remember when our "commitment to graduation" banner was stolen out of the library? And that first last, day of school: promising to meet everyone again come September.
This day has been in the back of our minds since our first day of kindergarten, all those years ago. This year, amidst bouts of senioritis, today was all we could think about, that final day when it would finally be our turn to graduate.
Like majority of my class, I came into Terry High School a wide-eyed freshman ready for an adventure. Being at Terry has opened my eyes and allowed me to have many different experiences. While I have experienced a few setbacks along the way, my time in high school has led to countless successes. During my tenure here, I have grown not only in my quest for knowledge, but also in the way that I handle everyday situations and life in general.
A boy once approached Socrates with the desire to obtain wisdom. Without saying a word, Socrates led the boy down to the edge of the sea and walked in, beckoning him to follow. When they were standing waist deep in the water, Socrates pushed the boy down, completely submerging his head. He held him thus for a couple of minutes, until the boy was almost to the point of death, before letting him up. Sputtering and angry, the boy demanded to know why Socrates had held him underwater for so long. In response, Socrates asked, "when you were under the water, what did you want more than anything in the world?"
On the first day of high school, we got up early like eager kids ready for a day of play. At Disneyland, people line up early to get their tickets and begin their enchanted day. As freshmen, we lined up early to get our class list, incredibly thrilled to finally be here. Our heads were full of the stories we had heard about how exciting it would be. Little did we know what awaited us.
I’m so happy to be speaking to the South Middle School 8th grade graduates. I see some close friends out there and… (pause) some kids I truly have never seen before. (shrug) Today I don’t want to bore you all with some cheesy “High School Musical” speech about achieving our greatest dreams and self-discovery and acceptance, because honestly, middle school is just the first step in figuring out who you are and what you want to achieve. However, we did accomplish some things during middle school and I think we should celebrate those milestones. We found out what we are good at, we became more responsible, and we navigated through the cliques to choose where we belonged socially.
Sitting in the passenger seat of my families’ minivan I nervously wait to pull into the school parking lot. As we turn the corner my legs begin to shake and my palms are getting clammy, this is my first day of high school. All I could do was think about the dramatic change in class size, I am coming from a school where there are only about three hundred kids in the entire school to a school where there are about three thousand kids in the entire school. This would not be as scary of experience except for the fact that the majority of the kids from my middle school went to the high school on the other side of town. My high school was the biggest school in Marion County and was known for its performing arts. I would not have been able to get through my first day of high school without the three levels of
I did not get to know many of you. So, I cannot be certain of how you feel, but, as for me, this year has been, by far, the most enjoyable and eye opening one of my high school career. Enjoyable because of the new, interesting friends I've made and of the fun times I've had, and eye opening because of my being forced to look towards the future. Not just day dreaming and imagining about the rest of my life, but finally having to sit down and make some definite decisions concerning it. For me and many of you, colleges have had to be applied for and decided on and scholarships filled out. Some of you have been looking into vocational schools or the military, while others will be going straight into the work force. Whatever your case may be, we've all had one thing in common in that we've been planning for our futures. Since the decisions we make now or soon will impact the rest of our lives, I'd like to take this time to share some advice with you all.
For the past 13 years of our education we have been on a journey - a journey full of experiences, challenges and accomplishments. We have made it through elementary, middle and high school. It hasn't always been what we expected and certainly not easy, but as we progressed down the road, we stretched ourselves to reach across barriers and found ourselves in new and expanding roles. We were given the opportunity to explore our interests and discover what really excites us. We have become more independent and complete individuals. Our growth and self-discovery has placed us here tonight.
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.