this is the speech i wrote for our graduation.
If I was to write a book about my high school experience, I would steal the title from Kurt Vonnegut: Armageddon In Retrospect. As we’ve all gone through these four trying years, there hasn’t been a week where someone hasn’t said high school was the end of the world. There have been multiple times we’ve said things like, “This place is going to kill me” or “this is the worst day of my ENTIRE life” or even “oh my gosh, I’m so hot I think I’m ACTUALLY melting.” Being high schoolers, naturally we embellish our difficult environment.
But, as dramatic as we’ve been about our surroundings, high school hasn’t been all that bad. On the contrary, it’s been preparation for life beyond. Central has begun to prepare us for things we can’t even imagine; college, dorm rooms, writing papers... Although most of us have had experience with these things, it’s going to be completely dominated by what’s out there in the real world.
We’re all going to walk away tonight new, older, more “sophisticated” people, with our ticket to freedom in hand and no idea where to go next. Some of us have known our callings for months, while others of us are still quite lost. And while there are lots of quotes about the road less traveled and not being afraid, let’s all just be honest, we’re terrified. Though we may not feel it now, as we’re itching to spring on to the stage, steal our diplomas and run, somewhere inside we all know we’re a little afraid. Where will we go from here? Will we forget everyone we’ve come to know and love? What if we’re forgotten?
Every one of us has a question like this that we’re asking ourselves. It’s these questions that we’re afraid of, these unknowns that are popping up from every side. Each day we’re asked a new question about our future we don’t know the answer to, and it adds another little seed of doubt, making us question ourselves just a little bit more. Even as I read this, I can probably think of a couple more I have to ask myself. But most importantly, I’m standing here trying to figure out how I’m going to do all this growing up in such a short amount of time, just trying to fathom that in just a few short hours, we’re going to be on the way to becoming adults. Real ones. The thought is stunning.
However we may be though, we have to remember that this isn’t the last step, it’s the first. High school was just the warm up, now we really get to go out and experience life. From now on, it’s not just going to be learning to get to life beyond k-12, it’s learning to figure out how to succeed at our unique life path. The waiting is over, and while we still have our doubts and we’re still questioning ourselves, this stage waits for no one.
So while you sit there and ponder where life’s going to take you, think about this. This walk across the stage are the first steps to the new people that we’re going to become. Even if we trip or stumble, at least it will be in the direction of the future. We may not know what’s going to come beyond tonight, but we’ll always have the memories of the place we thought would ruin us forever, and all the people that helped us not to be afraid.
Congratulations to the class of 2008, somehow we managed to make it.
But, as dramatic as we’ve been about our surroundings, high school hasn’t been all that bad. On the contrary, it’s been preparation for life beyond. Central has begun to prepare us for things we can’t even imagine; college, dorm rooms, writing papers... Although most of us have had experience with these things, it’s going to be completely dominated by what’s out there in the real world.
We’re all going to walk away tonight new, older, more “sophisticated” people, with our ticket to freedom in hand and no idea where to go next. Some of us have known our callings for months, while others of us are still quite lost. And while there are lots of quotes about the road less traveled and not being afraid, let’s all just be honest, we’re terrified. Though we may not feel it now, as we’re itching to spring on to the stage, steal our diplomas and run, somewhere inside we all know we’re a little afraid. Where will we go from here? Will we forget everyone we’ve come to know and love? What if we’re forgotten?
Every one of us has a question like this that we’re asking ourselves. It’s these questions that we’re afraid of, these unknowns that are popping up from every side. Each day we’re asked a new question about our future we don’t know the answer to, and it adds another little seed of doubt, making us question ourselves just a little bit more. Even as I read this, I can probably think of a couple more I have to ask myself. But most importantly, I’m standing here trying to figure out how I’m going to do all this growing up in such a short amount of time, just trying to fathom that in just a few short hours, we’re going to be on the way to becoming adults. Real ones. The thought is stunning.
However we may be though, we have to remember that this isn’t the last step, it’s the first. High school was just the warm up, now we really get to go out and experience life. From now on, it’s not just going to be learning to get to life beyond k-12, it’s learning to figure out how to succeed at our unique life path. The waiting is over, and while we still have our doubts and we’re still questioning ourselves, this stage waits for no one.
So while you sit there and ponder where life’s going to take you, think about this. This walk across the stage are the first steps to the new people that we’re going to become. Even if we trip or stumble, at least it will be in the direction of the future. We may not know what’s going to come beyond tonight, but we’ll always have the memories of the place we thought would ruin us forever, and all the people that helped us not to be afraid.
Congratulations to the class of 2008, somehow we managed to make it.