Graduation Speech

I'm pretty much awake and it's almost 1:00am - Everybody else at here is asleep so thought I'd post something. What you're about to read was my high school graduation speech; the one I never actually said. The administration chose someone "else"; someone that represented the school best; or so they think. And I never really stood up for it which from where I'm standing at the moment, looking back at that time, I kinda regret it. With the hope of having the opportunity to say another speech at my university graduation someday. Until then, enjoy reading what was never heard.

We can finally kick-back and relax because we have made it to graduation day. All the stressful nights that have tested most of our limits of sanity have finally paid off; for today is the day. The last eighteen years of our lives, everything we’ve accomplished, everything we’ve been through, has led us to “Today”. It seems like it all just happened yesterday… Elementary  school, middle school, high school; it all seems like it happened in a flash! Twelve years of school, fourteen years of life and just one day to graduate.

A little over twelve years ago I walked through those same doors for my first day of school. My dad was taking pictures, mom had the “My little girl is growing up” look in her eyes and I met some really cool kids. And here I am today; dad’s still holding the camera, mom’s still emotional and I’m surrounded by almost the exact same friends.

It has been a long journey for all of us. Neither the stop signs, nor the bumps on the road prevented us from being here today. And as we look back on the road we marched through and the knowledge we have acquired after all of our hard work, we must realize that it’s merely the beginning of the rest of our lives. We have reached a turning point, but whichever avenue we choose to pursue and walk through, there will always be a reward to gain, challenges to face and opportunities to encounter.

High school might not have been a perfect experience for some of us or even close, but never forget it’s only a fraction of life, for despite the rough patches, we’re here today.

Today we take off the slough of arch-childhood and tomorrow we take off with our drive on the road that’s not taken into the real wide world. I can promptly say I’m proud to be among you all and we can honestly say we are the champions of two-thousand and eleven.