As a hurdler for County High, I stumble upon some pretty tough obstacles each time I race; the same is true in life. Everyone encounters obstacles, but in order to overcome them and succeed, one must never give up.
I love to run hurdles, but unfortunately last year, little pulls and strains prevented me from running to my full potential. One Thursday, we had a home track meet against Lake Stevens. For the first time I was in pretty good shape for my race, the 100-meter hurdles. I began jumping up and down partially to stay warm, and partially to let out some of my excitement. By this time, I had butterflies in my stomach and the adrenaline was pumping. The starter asked us to 'Take your sweats off and stand behind your blocks.' 'Runners take your marks.' Hands shaking, I crouched into the starting blocks. The gun was up. 'Set!' 'Bang!' I bolted out of the blocks. I was way ahead of the other girls when suddenly, I realized I didn't have enough speed to carry me over the next hurdle. Gathering all of the strength I could, I grabbed at the air in hopes of guaranteeing clearance. I had just brushed over the wood when my foot hit the ground and my ankle gave out. I fell. I heard a gasp from the crowd and the other racers' feet pounding past me. I got back up. I had never gone over a hurdle with my right leg first, but I did after that fall. Sprinting as fast as I could in between hurdles, I found myself basically bunny hopping over the rest of them. My goal was to cross that finish line and to be able to say that I did the very best that I could, even if I didn't look very graceful along the way. Although it might have seemed like a bad day, I was proud. It was the first time I had ever fallen in a race, and not only did I get back up and keep running, I managed to place second.
Sometimes you encounter hurdles in life - sometimes you have to adapt and alter your normal routine to clear them. Then there are times you fall; the people surrounding you may gasp - they had been rooting for you. But they haven't given up on you-it's now more than ever that they want you to succeed - it's human nature to want the underdog to come from behind.
The obstacles which we must face are not there to hinder our daily life. They are there to provide countless opportunities to obtain greater success. In order to be successful we must look at every obstacle as a new opportunity.
I would like to begin this evening by welcoming all of my classmates, staff, parents and guardians, the school board and superintendent, friends, and relatives to the commencement of the class of 2012.
As children, we are naturally, curious, eager and willing to try new things. When they don’t work out we are quick to move on and try something else. We don’t waste time or start worrying about what didn’t work, we simply move on to trying something else. As we grow older we learn that failure is unacceptable and we always need to be on our feet and improving ourselves all the time so we can decrease the chances of failure. I believe that in this world everyone is hungry for success and no one wants to fail in something they would love to accomplish one day. Desire for success is like a “drug” in this generation, without success people look down upon you and will believe that you’re not worth their time without giving you a chance. The phrase
In all parts of life there are periods of adversity that we must face, the real challenge however, is what and how we gain from conquering those trials. There have been many times that I have been faced with adversity, it has happened in all aspects of my life at one time or another. Whether it is dealing with the ups and downs of hockey or balancing the pressure that comes with an elite hockey schedule and high school, there are always obstacles. Some of these challenges can bring about positive effects that influence the path of one’s life. In one such experience of mine, the amount of adversity was not near as great as the positive out come that came from my experience.
There’s an event in everyone's life that changes you, whether it be a simple hello or a death in the family. Tragically, mine begins with my mother marrying her second husband. The lessons I learned from this man shaped me into the person I am today. I came from a bad situation and he took my family in and and showed me that not every man is the same. Perseverance, the ability to forgive, and willingness to change your life for the better are just some of the things he taught me. If it weren’t for the little talks we had I wouldn’t be hopeful that I am, that I will turn my life around.
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!
Throughout the entirety of my life I always have and always will face obstacles: I am a girl, I am African-American, I have a disabled brother, I have a single parent. Though these aspects of my life have created challenges, I am proud of who I am and I love my life. These challenges have molded my character and shaped me to be the person I am today and without these obstacles, I might not have been as driven to succeed, despite what has happened in my life that may have caused me to
The start of the 2002 track season found me concerned with how I would perform. After a disastrous bout with mononucleosis ended my freshmen track season, the fear of failure weighed heavily on my mind. I set a goal for myself in order to maintain focus and to push myself like nothing else would. My goal for my sophomore track season was to become a state champion in the 100 meter hurdles. I worked hard everyday at practice and went the extra mile, like running every Sunday, to be just that much closer to reaching my goal. The thought of standing highest on the podium in the center of the field, surrounded by hundreds of spectators, overcame my thoughts of complaining every time we had a hard workout. When I closed my eyes, I pictured myself waiting in anticipation as other competitors names were called out, one by one, until finally, the booming voice announced over the loudspeaker, "...and in first place, your 2002 100 meter hurdle champion, from Hotchkiss, Connie Dawson." It was visions like these that drove me to work harder everyday.
Congratulations, County High Class of 2012, our thirteen-year marathon is over. Some of you may know I am a distance runner, part of an immensely successful cross-country and distance track program. We were fourth at the state cross-country championships, and we are the best senior boys team in the state. My involvement in athletics truly linked me with our school and granted me friends whom I will remember for a lifetime. One of the most important aspects of my time in high school was getting involved. Wherever your next journey takes you, don't sit back and watch the action. Take the initiative and you will experience the benefits. Just look around you. These are the people you grew up with, the people you were teammates with and the people you have survived dozens of classes with for the last four years. They are not merely faces in a yearbook. They are your people, your community, your family. They are the greatest benefit of being involved.
To begin something new, you must sacrifice something old. To enter the real world, you must graduate your childhood.
Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Sitting in the backseat of the car, I used to bombard my family with these questions. On our summer road trips I was so anxious for the destination that I failed to appreciate the journey. However, as time passed and I grew older, I realized that it was the journey that was important and not the destination.
As I was pondering what to speak about tonight, I started thinking about what has been the main influence in my school experience. I realized that what has shaped me most has been my teachers. What is a teacher? After 13 years of school, believe me, I have an extremely good idea of what a teacher is. Two teachers began to teach me, my father and my mother. The poet Ann Taylor wrote, "Who taught my infant lips to pray, And love God’s holy book and day, And walk in wisdom’s pleasant way? My Mother."
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.
Running hurdles has proved to be one of my greatest passions in life. I love the fear, unpredictability, and brief feeling of flying over the hurdles, just barely hovering over the top of each one. Most importantly, I am infatuated with the feeling after each race: my heart beating intensely in my chest and the feeling of relief and accomplishment washing over me. Although I cannot say running hurdles has been the greatest adversity I have faced in life, I have found that my life has always been like a race, running from one hurdle to the next, always having to figure out how to get up after each fall or to overcome each obstacle in front of me.