Graduation Speech

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:

"The traffic light simply would not turn green

So the people stopped to wait

As the traffic rolled and the wind blew cold

And the hour grew dark and late

"Zoom-varuum, trucks, trailers,

Bikes and limousines,

Clatterin' by - me oh my!

Won't that light turn green?

"But the days turned weeks, and the weeks turned months

And there on that corner they stood,

Twiddlin' their thumbs till the changin' comes

The way good people should.

"And if you walk by that corner now,

You may think it's rather strange

To see them there as they hopefully gaze

With the very same smile on their very same face

As they patiently stand in the very same place

And wait for the light to change."

Last year I took Ms. Gilbert. A good chunk of you have as well. For those of you who didn't , if you looked around and saw pathetic-looking, sleep-deprived zombies, those were Ms. Abbott's victims ... I mean students. As a direct result of her class, I cannot do anything without finding symbolism in it. Darn her for making me find meaning in life. What a concept! The poem "Traffic Light" is dripping with symbolism. We, the class of 2003, have been standing at a traffic light.