Graduation Speech

Today is both an end, and a beginning. After thirteen long years we have finally concluded our Kutztown education. It’s been a bumpy road, filled with defeats, victories, and surprises. We’ve learned a lot along the way, and not just science and math and English, although our teachers have made sure we picked up plenty of that too. Seeing the same people day after day has taught us what friendship is—and isn’t, and we’ve learned that life is not always fair. We’ve also developed some interesting skills, like how to dodge buckets—or freshman—in a crowded hallway on a rainy day. Or how to fight off heat stoke in the sweltering science wing and hypothermia in the over air-conditioned English classrooms. Even so, we still managed to scream the loudest of any class at every pep rally since our freshman year. We’ve survived social dramas and standardized tests and finals. And now, after all the homework and the late nights studying and the 14,580 hours of sitting in class, yes I did the math, we’re here to celebrate the fact that we’ve made it.

When we started kindergarten this moment seemed so terribly far away. We were only five years old ourselves, and thirteen years might as well have been an eternity. By the time we reached junior high we were too busy worrying about whether or not we would be able to open our lockers or remember where our classes were to give the passage of time much thought. By 9th grade there was the stigma of being freshmen, and then in the blink of an eye three years had passed and our senior year had snuck up on us. Suddenly everything we did was a milestone; our last concert, our last assembly, our last test, even our last day of classes. By this point senoritis had set in, and we were ready to leave and...

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... not to listen. Without your dedication we would not be where we are today, and I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I count many of you as friends, and not just teachers. To the band and the stage crew, thanks for helping out on our special night. And to the class of 2004: sail. Sail from this place into the vast and unchartered future, but don’t forget to look back every once and a while and remember where you came from. High school is over, but you can take the memories made here with you wherever you go. Pack them away in your heart, and when you’re feeling afraid or discouraged remember the thrill of winning that football game, or the warmth of your best friend’s smile, or the security of simpler times. But do not dwell in the past forever, for it is time to move on. Follow your heart, reach for your dreams. The world awaits us, and it’s time to make it ours.