Good afternoon, I would like to begin by thanking the staff for the privilege of speaking before you on this bittersweet day. It seems like this past year has been a jumble of excitement, reminiscence of the past and uncertainty for the future. After dreaming about graduating since we jumped off the bus on the first day of kindergarten, it's finally here.
With the years of number two pencils, group projects and final bells behind us, we find ourselves on the threshold of our future. Yet, it's difficult not to timidly glance back at our past and wonder if we are prepared for what lies ahead. Are we ready to face that thing called reality which our parents and teachers have constantly warned us about? I was unsure if I would be prepared to face this world which exists beyond the doors of high school until a recent incident changed my mind. It forced me to put all of my accumulated knowledge from high school to the test in order to survive. I wish I could say this experience happened to me when I was a silly freshman; unfortunately it was only a few months ago. It began with a routine trip to the high school to pick up my brother from a basketball game one cold, January evening. I arrived to find the game was long over, although at the time I didn't know that he had already gotten a ride home. I went looking for him, taking a shortcut from the gym through the courtyard. As I stepped into the frigid air, the door quickly clicked shut behind me. I strode briskly across the courtyard to the double doors in the old commons, only to find they wouldn't budge. Remaining calm, I tried the doors next to them and the gym doors; they were also locked. My heart began to race as I tried every door and gate in that courtyard, only to find I wa...
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...e world, but also the memories and lessons from each other. Every time we lent our shoulder for somebody to cry on, laughed even when the joke wasn't funny or cheered loudly whether our team was ahead or not, we were teaching each other important lessons. This type of knowledge is just as necessary as math, science and history to carry with you in the future.
So, when you step onto your college campus, begin your first day of work or travel the world this fall, be confident in your abilities and intelligence. However, as you drive into your future, remember to check your rearview mirror every so often so you don't forget where you came from. Laugh aloud when you mess up or lock yourself in a dark courtyard, for these experiences will become the lessons and memories which you pack into the trunk of your car to strengthen you as you drive down the road of life.
It is expected that within a span of four years drastic changes can occur to any person. An example of such case is our experience throughout four years of high school or college; it is a time in which each obstacle that we surpass will become an experience that builds character. We have all left our childhood behind, but we have yet to taste the full essence of adulthood. Within these years of being cast astray to find our own paths, it is common for us students to experience regular episodes of anxiety, stress, and crippling self-doubt.
I bolted through the clear door of a small, earth-colored high school, practically slamming the door behind me. Catching my breath, I stood in the school completely drenched and shivering. Rain pounded on the clear door behind me. I stood awkwardly on a mat in front of the doorway, trying not to get the floor wet. I gazed around the hall in front of me. I couldn’t see staff in the office, nor were any students in the hallway or in the classrooms. The entire school was empty.
Thank you. Thank you for accepting me on April 20th, 2012. Thank you for allowing me to grow as a designer, student, and human being in the past four years. And lastly, thank you for accepting, welcoming, and investing in me as your student.
I left that project feeling extremely aware and extremely at peace. After three years of struggling to find answers, happiness, and a sense of purpose, I began to appreciate my present state of mind. I began to revel in the struggle, confusion, and push of not knowing. And as I approached graduation, my high school experience suddenly made sense to me. I understood life as a system of games. High school was simply one of them. I came to realize that playing games was both understandable and necessary as long as we are aware that we are playing them. I realized that a major struggle throughout high school had been my struggle to resist playing its game. I spent my three years at boarding school governed by my passions rather than playing by the rules of the institution. And in refusing to play by its rules, I made it increasingly more difficult for me to function within its realm.
Freshman year of high school careened past my very eyes before I had the maturity to fully comprehend the knowledge and life experience that was being imparted to my young impressionable intellect. The somewhat nebulous idea of high school loomed before me, acting as both a mirage and a reality. The atmosphere itself was cramped. Every detail about the school was small, building size, classrooms, the student population. Yet in a broader sense I was overwhelmed by the enormousness of the task that lay before me. I was more concerned with surviving the first year than with anything else.
I didn’t know what to expect of high school as I sauntered in the doors as an incoming high school freshman. In my first couple of weeks of school, I learned that it was basically like middle school, just a little stricter with different teachers and a different locker. I asked myself “how bad could it be?” Turns out,
I hope that you can see my education and future are advancing as we speak. This doesn’t mean I haven’t had a few bumps in the road, because I have. Actually, some of the bumps have unfortunately been financial aid. But, I am growing. It is a day to day continual experience of growth and it’s exciting for me to see where it takes me. Again, thank you for this opportunity and all the work you do as an organization.
“We made it, Class of 2016!” triumphantly concluded the senior class president at the Naugatuck High School’s graduation ceremony. She quickly nodded, the cue for the concert band to play the school’s anthem “Greyhound Fight Song.” As I played my flute and watched the ceremony close, I wondered if my own graduation would be identical. In two years, I would likely become valedictorian and sincerely address the peers I had grown up with since kindergarten.
Today, as we graduate, with degree nearly in hand, I challenge each of you to make a difference in whatever you do. Remember that life didn't end when we re-entered school. Life continued throughout our program. Even when stretched to the limit, life only got more challenging. And now, graduating, life only changes pace. Our degree completion is not really an ending as much as a new beginning as we re-enter our lives of work and home. We thank all of our family, friends, instructors and co-workers who helped see us through this process. Thank you for this opportunity and good luck to you all.
Let’s flash back in time to before our college days. Back to then we had lunch trays filled with rubbery chicken nuggets, stale pizza, and bags of chocolate milk. A backpack stacked with Lisa Frank note books, flexi rulers, and color changing pencils. The times where we thought we wouldn’t make it out alive, but we did. Through all the trials and tribulations school helped build who I am today and shaped my future. From basic functions all the way to life-long lessons that helped shape my character.
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.
I nervously opened the doors to my future, hoping for the best for myself. At first, I believed departing to class would be simple, but when the bell rang for the first time I had no idea what class room goes where and how busy the halls were going to be. Suddenly, the entire world around me scrambled to class, and on occasions bumping each other along the way; it was a widespread panic for most of the freshmen. Fortunately, I found some wonderful teachers to direct me to my rooms that I will spend the next year
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.
To begin something new, you must sacrifice something old. To enter the real world, you must graduate your childhood.
Having spent twelve years of my school life in just one small red brick building, the years tend to fade into each other. But the year I remember most clearly and significantly is my senior year of high school, where I finally began to appreciate what this institution offered to any student who stopped to look. Before, school had been a chore, many times I simply did not feel motivated toward a subject enough to do the homework well, and seeing the same familiar faces around ever since I was 5 years old grew very tiring soon enough. But I began to see things from a different angle once I became a senior.