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During the years I've been at Best College, I have learned what it means to be an adult and make choices that determine my future. I began attending this college as when I was a senior at County High School. My graduating class was just over 100 students, and consisted of students predominately like myself. My first class here introduced me to a more diverse group of students and I had the opportunity to study with people of all ages and ethnicities. As I became involved with the college's art and literary magazine and the student newspaper, I had additional opportunities to work with people from around the world. It's difficult to comprehend how much we can learn from each other until we are given that opportunity, and I know that I was given that opportunity here at Best College.
Now, after two years of hard work, I am ready to move on. Although I'm excited about the next chapter in my life, I will never forget the tremendous people I've met at Best College. Many of the students I've met and the teachers I've had the privilege to learn from, have made significant impacts on my life.
Stanley Kunitz wrote a poem called The Layers, of which I would like to share an excerpt with you:
I have walked through many lives,
some of them my own,
and I am not who I was,
though some principle of being
abides, from which I struggle
not to stray.
When I look behind,
as I am compelled to look
before I can gather strength
to proceed on my journey,
I see the milestones dwindling
toward the horizon
and the slow fires trailing
from the abandoned camp-sites,
over which scavenger angels
wheel on heavy wings.
In a rising wind
the manic dust of my friends,
those who fell along the way,
bitterly stings my face.
Yet I turn, I turn,
exulting somewhat,
with my will intact to go
wherever I need to go,
and every stone on the road
precious to me.
In my darkest night,
when the moon was covered
and I roamed through wreckage,
a nimbus-clouded voice
directed me:
"Live in the layers,
not on the litter."
Though I lack the art
to decipher it,
no doubt the next chapter
in my book of transformations
Additionally, prestigious institutions need to take initiative to create new programs that will make college a painless transition for first generation students by implementing new policies such as mentorship or clubs. While many colleges and universities have not taken the initiative to help first-generation students, North Carolina State University is one of the few exceptions. As a fellow first generation college student at North Carolina State University, I have reaped many benefits from the different organizations they have around campus. At the Poole College of Management, I was assigned a professional mentor in my future line of work that made the transition into college a better experience for me. After listening to his forums, I was able to use the skills I had learnt from my parents and apply them to college and my study habits, benefiting me in countless ways.
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!
...e campus, and felt comfortable with my professors and their expectations. I quickly realized that the very place that I had been conditioned to like since birth, was truly where I belonged. I had no problems transitioning into college life and had no doubts that I made the right choice. College life at FSU was everything I expected. High school was fun, but nothing compared to the college life and how I felt at Florida State.
So far, the college experience has made me a changed person. College changed me into a better person on many occasions. I have learned to be more responsible, when it comes down to getting work done. In college you must be responsible. I have also changed my attitude. Moving from high school to college is a big step; if you don’t change your ways for the better then you might not be successful in college. When you reach college then is the time that you become an adult.
Attending college has helped me see the right benefits that will help me achieve my ultimate dream goals. First of all, I want to be able to learn how to relate to different cultures, ethnicities, and personalities, and also be able to understand different backgrounds, the way people from diverse culture think and act and their lifestyles; In addition, I want to learn how to adapt to new situations including dealing with responsibilities such as using Blackboard and making sure that all my assignments are completed and submitted on time. Furthermore, I will have to learn how to adapt to being an adult and taking care of my own needs.
Attending Florida Southern College was the best choice i’ve ever made in my life. Hands down. This school has opened doors for me and has granted me opportunities i never thought i’d experience. The past four years I’ve spent my time in New York at community colleges not truly knowing what I wanted to do with my future just trying to find some sense of direction and a field of work where I could flourish. My experiences at those colleges was a joke, not trying to degrade any community college because there are a lot of positive aspects of these schools, but I didn't feel engaged. I felt everyone there went to class and did the work because they felt they had to. Even the teachers seemed like they weren’t enjoying themselves. My biggest fear was having to graduate and go out into a world where I had no experience, with a degree from a college that just thought of me as another number. When I came to FSC that all changed. FSC granted me opportunities that mattered to me. I joined clubs, a fraternity, I started doing community service, became engaged with my major, and started planning ahead and preparing for my
When I moved into my dorm, I didn’t know what to expect in college. It was something my parents expected me to attend. For most of life, I was a sheltered boy who stayed home all the time. I didn’t hang out with friends until my last year of high school. After I come home from school, I would either finish homework or watch Youtube videos. It wasn’t until the first few days of college until I realized the amount of freedom I received. College allowed me to do what I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid. It has already taught me more than the last 18 years of my life. I’ve experienced and learned more about myself and the world around me in just the first semester and it started with my classes.
From my college experience, I hope to gain many things. Obviously college is a time that students can truly become individuals. When I attend college I will have the opportunity to become more independent and to take on new responsibilities. I have always relied on my parents for support, but at college I will be on my own and will have to push myself harder. This will help me to become more mature and will help me grow in character. I have long awaited for the time to be independent and now is the time that I shall prove myself.
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.
I was puzzled and wasn't sure what to talk about tonight. I had to prepare this speech ahead of time and turn it in for approval. I much prefer doing things spontaneously, using all the skills I have developed over the years, you know, sorta letting people (being the teachers and parents) know that we really were listening! It's much more fun interacting with other people, watching their reactions, and playing along with them. But, I had to do the right thing, So while I was contemplating my topic, it came to me - this is what I want you to take with you as we depart the Bryan Station School District and move on into life.
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.
To begin something new, you must sacrifice something old. To enter the real world, you must graduate your childhood.
Ok, its 12:15 and I just walked into my house from seeing a movie with three of my best friends and I have to write this speech. A speech that’s suppose to inspire all of you, and tell you how the future has so much to hold for the class of 2015, how the possibilities are endless. Right now I’m probably standing in the front of the class and supposed to be addressing all of you as “fellow graduates, or to the class of 15’”. But that’s not what I’m going to do. I put this off as I do with the majority of my work thinking I would just write something everyone expects to hear, but instead I wrote this.
Through the last 13 weeks I have learned about whom I am and what makes me who I am. I have made some great friends not only my age but also older and younger than me. I have realized many things about myself that I never would have realized if I wouldn’t have came here. College is a whole new experience that you could never imagine unless you are there. It is nothing like you read or even that you watch on TV. It is completely different and you learn a lot about yourself as a person.