Graduation Speech

Tonight is our commencement - the beginning of a new course. We've said goodbye to our teachers, signed yearbooks, paid our fines; now we celebrate 13 years of progress and friendship and we look forward to achieving our goals as we embark on a new odyssey. We've seen our last dance. We've yet to experience our first college lecture. We've heard our last announcements, now we eagerly look forward to making headlines.

Tonight marks the end of an era. Years of books, plays, dances and sports have all led to this gratifying moment. As we, the graduation class of 2006, sit here watching as the last of our high school careers fade into twilight and nervously awaiting what new adventure tomorrow will bring, it is important that we share a moment to reflect and appreciate the enormity of our fine accomplishment. For tonight's graduation marks not only our passage from the halls of Bears High School, but is also a declaration of our commitment and effort. This last year has been a tragic one for American high schools.

Hello, good morning and welcome to graduation for the class of 2012. I have waited to hear those words for 5 years - and by the looks on all of my fellow graduates faces, I am not alone. Think with me for a minute about the process we have gone through which has gathered us here today. Our stories of these past years are not much different. Whether you went to a community college, transferred here from another four-year school or started your freshman year in the dorms near the entrance of this campus, we are finally finishing together.

It has been said, "To know where you are going, one must remember where you have been." Tonight, the Class of 2012 will start a new chapter, moving toward new endeavors and taking on greater challenges, making this evening the perfect time to reflect on our past here at County High School. As we look back on our senior year, we will remember it as the year the voters of Stoll passed a new school bond creating the promise of a new high school. The year our girls’ basketball team went to state, and our football team went undefeated in league. We will remember the cold, wet nights in the stands watching football; the cold, wet nights in the stands watching soccer and well, ... you get the idea.

Obviously, this applies to me, as well. Coming from a student who plans on achieving a 4.0 average every year, graduating summa cum laude, and becoming a leader in his family, hometown, school, and community, Wake Forest University holds in its invisible walls a place of promise. My aspirations are high, but even when it seems like they may come crashing from the sky, I hope Wake Forest will be there to help me push them right back into the endless sky. These are my expectations from the Wake Forest Experience.

First of all, I'd like to welcome all the parents, relatives and friends, on behalf of the senior class. It has been a long, hard road to graduation and I know your presence here is greatly appreciated. My job as salutatorian is to reminisce on our past here at County High, a past that reads like a script of a soap opera. What an interesting four years it has been. I know I'm not alone when I think back to freshman year and remember the first time I stepped out onto our football field ... oh wait, never mind.

Welcome fellow graduates and honored guests to the sixtieth anniversary of commencement for Stoll Community College. For those graduating, this day marks the culmination of a period of courage, commitment, and accomplishment. For these reasons, I am greatly honored to be chosen as student speaker for this outstanding class of graduates and I hope that my words will give a measure of justice to the significant event that has brought all of you here tonight. Hopefully, we will laugh a little, perhaps cry, and give some much-deserved praise. For the class of 2012, this is our night to shine, to pat ourselves on the back, to say "Well done.

Good evening family, friends, teachers and fellow graduates. This special night marks our achievement over the past thirteen years. Tonight we come to the top of a mountain in our lives and look ahead to the numerous more to come. It seems like just yesterday we were eighth graders in middle school, wishing we were twelfth graders in high school. (You have to remember that back then we didn't know if a freshman meant you were in twelfth grade or if a junior meant you were in ninth.)

For anyone traveling through the twists and turns of high school, it can be a very challenging frenzy to attempt to fit in and interact with other students. People can get caught up in the pressures of trying to succeed expectations set by parents and also everyday drama from fellow peers. Our message to anyone on the great venture that is high school is that they should enjoy it while it lasts, and fulfill their true testament to their life before entering the real world. We have acquired many ways that people like us, high school students, can make the best of their high school career. Four facets of high school success and fulfillment include volunteering, sports, education, and school spirit.

Sophomore year saw the graduation of County High School's first class. And last year, we said goodbye to the class of '11. Many of us had role models amongst them, yet more of us had friends. But as last year drew to a close, we realized that this year would be our year. It was our turn to lead Neda, it was our turn to shine.