The past three years I sat over on my left, drenched in this scorching gym, playing Pomp and Circumstance on my tenor saxophone until I thought my lungs were going to explode. Well, we had to stay and watch the rest of the graduation, during which I would usually space out, and sometimes think to myself "It is taking so long to get up on that stage." Lots of us felt this way even last week, bombarded with the last group of projects and assignments that seem to cram themselves into an astonishingly small amount of time.
Finally, the Class of 2012 is about to enter what some fool once called the real world. Shockingly enough, classmates, from what I've heard, the real world looks almost the same as the one here. There are things to like and dislike, freedoms and restrictions you might grumble over, and people of integrity and deceit. But we will not be surrounded by three-foot slabs of brick everyday. And if upon leaving you find people trying to make houses out of mud and sticks, it is not a Western Civ movie. You are probably staring at very poor people, so help them out.
Before going any further, I strongly advise all my classmates to thank their families tonight. This is our class's last night together, but quite soon it will be our last night as a member of our parent's permanent households. I am going to take my opportunity right here. Mom and Dad, Tom and Jess, thanks for all the encouragement, support, and most important love and affection you have shown me every day. Without you, I am quite sure I would not be standing here and quite possibly might not have graduated tonight. Because of my great family, I have successfully overcome all sorts of downturns in eighteen short years. I figured I would not shy away from saying this in front of a crowd if I wrote it down in my speech, so, to my family—I love you.
To succeed in this "real world," we all need to develop our own unique niche. I say this, but I realize it must be done in actions, not words. I confess I have no idea what mine will be. I have not even figured out what general area of interest I wish to explore.
This indecision, which I am not alone in experiencing, is made all the more complicated by the era we are entering.
This speech is bigger than me... bigger than this graduating class... and the world surrounding us. It is an epiphany. This speech is for the little guy, the middle man and the guy who is always behind the scenes... For the past four years, we have seen stories, read newspaper articles, and have heard announcements about our star athletes, scholars and over achievers.
I would now like to thank my own mom and dad for all the love and support they have given me over the years. I am sure you are looking at me now and thinking what a brave boy? I am not really one for speeches especially in front of 80+ people.
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.
As our time together draws to a close, I leave LHS with no further anecdotes of wisdom or quotes dealing with success; only the sincere hope that you immersed yourself in the essence of commencement. Everybody, we’ll all be graduates by the time we leave tonight. Let’s enjoy it. Congratulations to the Lee High School Class of 2006.
When people are younger everyone always ask what do you want to be when you are older? Of course when it is children everyone is filled with wonder about their answer whether it’s a model, astronaut, race car driver, etc. Now that I’m older it’s expected for me to know exactly what to do with my life and how to do it. I realized very soon that I sometimes can be an indecisive person when it comes to life-long decisions. This being a huge decision in one’s life you could only imagine how many times I’ve changed my idea on what to go to school for. Although, changing my mind become a norm, I eventually decided a degree in business/marketing is the right path for me. What are my career and educational goals, what will my job would be like, and
My fellow classmen, as we look back on our years here at school we should remember the meaningful words of a fellow class member of mine when she said, "Dude, where's my iPod?" It's hard for me to think of a better way to describe the many layers of adolescence, because deep down aren?t we all "dudes?" Do we not all have our inner "iPods", and are we not constantly searching for them? Now, we're leaving our childhood behind to study the vast sphere we call planet Earth, into the notorious world of high school, where things will be so much different. Of course we will still have our varied studies, Geometry, Biology, maybe even Forensics or an Accelerated English class here and there. We will still struggle with the daily setbacks formed by peers and strict teachers and principals. But so much of our lives will change. The cars in the parking lot will be driven by, well, students. Our male friends will grow a little fuzzy around the face, and of course, our day will most likely begin with a bell that actually works.
When I was asked to be your commencement speaker I figured it was my responsibility to say something so significant that it would help you make sense of what you have experienced over the last two years. I figured that I should answer one of life's great mysteries that you may have been confused about. And I am prepared to do that today. The question is, we have been dealing with them, writing papers about them, but what in the world are these Learning Outcomes anyway? And why have you made us study them?
The big day has come. On a sunny day in the middle of the spring, my siblings and I arrived at the Montgomery college Rockville campus, where the commencement ceremony took place. The campus was filled with a thousand of peoples, siblings, students, futures graduates, faculty members, and more. I have never seen that many people on the campus, even on orientation day when there is not only students and faculty members on the
8th grade, 8th grade from the opening day to the signing of the yearbooks. This is the year of memories, goodbyes, and regrets. 8th grade and I’m still realizing that there are people in the world that would die to go to a school like this. A school where every body knows everyone’s name, respects everyone, and where violence and fighting are about as common as the Yankees missing the playoffs. When I’m done with my homework and go to bed, as the days of 8th grade wind down, summer will come and go, and I will find myself in one of those giant, scary places called high school.
Being Marefat's first graduating class to complete all four years, one can say we've acquired a higher level of school wisdom than any previous class. We've formed traditions, we've set records, and we've made a lot of friends along the way. I remember our freshman year when we could use the excuse of being a new school for every shortcoming we encountered. I remember our sophomore year, the last time I cleaned my bedroom, when Marefat had its first senior class, and the school seemed to shrink for some reason. Last year we were the juniors, and we conquered the SAT tests: And made it through those busy days where you hadn't quite found room in your schedule to pencil in a bathroom break, dinner or sleep. Well, this year we were the kings and queens, there was Star Wars, Starbucks, and a certain football team lost its winning streak to the mighty Knights. Looking back we can see our accomplishments and the marks we made. Now, we must take all that we have learned in our years at Marefat and apply it to our future. Just as we have set traditions here, we must enter the world ready to tackle new problems and work out new solutions. We are the ones who can break all of those records that have been set, and have our names etched in history. It's our turn -- the world is ours and we just have to decide what we want to do with it.
A long time ago in what seems like another lifetime, we were once little children watching the blinking TV while we sat eating Mac and Cheese without a care in the world. So much time has passed since then, how quickly time flies. Now, instead of walking to the bus for our first day of kindergarten, we are walking across this stage for our diplomas - I think everyone will agree that it's all about time.
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.
Today completes the chapter of our lives that we have been comfortable with for the past 13 years. High school may be over, but we still have a long exciting way to go in life. From our four-year experience we will take with us the memories, good and bad, and relationships we have made with each other and the County High School staff. From these experiences we have learned and grown and will continue to do so. Growing up and moving on will be a huge part of our lives in the next few months. The decisions we will make come in-part from the choices we have already made.
As freshman, we came home from school with the mentality that we were no longer children, but rather had entered into a new stage of life. Everything seemed different and new; we weren’t the big kids on campus anymore. We no longer were the persons being looked up to, but rather were the persons looking up to an entire school of older students. We remember joining our firsts clubs, going to dances, and having Orientation days.
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.