grad speech
hi all.
incase anyone's interested i thought i would post my graduation speech. i really enjoyed preparing and thought it went well.
Valedictory Address
June 3, 2005
Whitney A. Pilson
Greetings Mr. Murray, Mr. Winslow, Faculty/Staff, Parents, Family, Friends, and the Class of 2005 ...
There are nine of us who have been together since kindergarten: Ashley, Justin, Landis, Annie, Harrison, Denton, Jessie, Wes, and myself. In the second grade, Elizabeth joined the fun. Amanda and Hill came along in the third grade. Will and Keli hopped on the train in the fourth grade. But Keli only stayed for a year and came back later in high school. The first day of the fifth grade is the day I remember most clearly. Chris, Crystal, and Brittany are all vividly in my memory as they became part of the Class of 2005. In the sixth grade we gained the most new students, but only Ryan Godwin and Ryan Pierce stuck it out with us. As we began high school, there were eighteen of us who would finish the journey together. Ninth grade marks the start of the four years called high school that bring big changes and seem to set apart someone’s life. Ashley, Ian, and Jessica all decided to share these memorable four years with us. And finally, Chris and Justin joined us during our senior year and together, we all make up the 35th Graduating Class of Ridgecroft School, Alumni Numbers 719 through 742.
I was always so excited every year our class was able to add new names to the roster. But as I grew older I slowly realized that I should not be disappointed when it seemed like all the classes around us welcomed new students and we did not. The students in my class at that moment were all I needed and I am very thankful for our friendships. When I look back, I can distinctly remember times with all of you. All of us together make the Class of 2005 special. As our journey continued, there are some we unfortunately lost. But just as all losses, we remember them and move on. The most memorable loss of all may have been that of our third grade hamster or the headmistress who could do cartwheels across the gym. Haven’t seen those yet, Mr. Winslow.
I believe it is no accident that the twenty-four of us are graduating from Ridgecroft together. We have each brought something unique to the class. Each of us are all different from each other and we’ve learned from these differences. We all complement each other so well. But now we must find new relationships because we will be moving into different settings. Next year we’ll be starting as “new students” somewhere else. We’ll take our own uniqueness wherever we go and part of who we have become has been influenced by what we have learned from each other. Therefore, there will be a little bit of each of us wherever we all go.
We are separating to continue to learn about ourselves and our surroundings, to learn good from bad, and to learn the difference between friend and foe. I guess we will be playing the game of “Life.” But this will not be as easy as the board game and for this I am thankful because I never mastered that board game. Playing this game in reality may be a bit scary. There will not be any “That doesn’t count” or “Let me do it again” as we play this game and work to move forward on the board.
Our lives are about to change dramatically. The life we have been living is over and we will have to adapt to a new lifestyle. We will be moving on and trying something different. Tomorrow, not the tomorrow when we’re going to sleep late but the tomorrow’s down the road, will come and there will be many more times when life will change, and we will need to alter our lives to fit whatever we are going through. Right now we are graduating and preparing a life for ourselves in this great big world. The first thing we will do after graduation is leave each other. But it is important that we realize we are not leaving each other behind because we have become a family and over the years you have all qualified as the brothers and sisters I lacked. As Lilo states from one of my favorite Disney movies Lilo and Stitch, “Ohana means family and family means nobody left behind or forgotten.” We are ohana, and we will not leave anyone behind or forget anyone. We are just splitting apart to go on our own individual journeys. We must spread our wings and fly, expand our horizons, and increase our knowledge. Learning is not over for us. The opportunities are endless and I hope we all take advantage of what is available. There will be many places for us to go. And wherever we go, we should remember we will never stop learning about ourselves. We must stay young at heart and happy along the way. We should try to keep the childlike quality that keeps us curious and prompts us to ask questions as we continue to expand our territory throughout life.
We should set goals now of all the things we want to accomplish. There can be serious and/or silly items on our agenda. Some of the things on my list are to learn how to swing dance, to get a pilot’s license, to move after college to a big city that has a professional baseball team so I can be a season ticket holder (preferably Cincinnati or Baltimore), and simply to eat all three flavors of ice cream sandwiches in one sitting among other goals. I realize some of these things are far-fetched. Maybe being an only child has led me to think too much about the things I want to do instead of the things I should have been doing like cleaning my room.
Life is something to be taken seriously but it does not mean we have to be serious all the time in order to be successful. We will have to work hard and stay focused, that’s a given. But we also need to learn what makes us happy and what brings us joy. Again, some of the things on my “happy list” are hearing The Today Show’s Al Roker proclaim “ . . . and here’s what’s happening in your neck of the woods,” or catching the “All 80's Lunch” on the radio - 101.5 Noon to One, weekdays. Just these little things can brighten my day and lift my spirits. These little moments in our lives can serve as mood lifters any time they are needed. But we also must realize there will be bad days. Maybe we’ll have a panic attack or a high-stress day that doesn’t seem to end. I had one of those days recently and I felt like all I could do was cry and I did because everything went wrong that day. Obviously, I had missed Al Roker that morning. That day has passed, and I learned from it. We grow through the hard times. The bad days make the good days better. They come hand in hand. We should not be afraid of the days to come. Fear is natural and to be expected. Therefore we should face the days boldly and courageously.
With our newfound boldness and courage, we will start going places and we should realize that we are leaving the most important people in the world behind - our parents. They have contributed a great deal to what we know. I think we will all be able to reach our destination because of their love and belief in us. We will be able to go places knowing we will always be welcome at home. We cannot forget to call home and we must call often. After all, this may be the hardest thing our parents will ever have to do, to let their children go. We have been a major part of their lives for the past eighteen years and it is all about to change drastically. No matter where we go, the hands of our parents will always be there to pat us on the back and guide us.
Even though our parents will be there to help, we will be the ones making the decisions. Granted, we will make mistakes because, like fear, mistakes are a natural part of life. I’m going to tell you a short story about a caterpillar named Stripe who was fearless and had some important decisions to make. The story is called “Hope for the Flowers” and was written by Trina Paulus. She claims it is a tale partly about life, partly about revolution, and lots about hope for adults and others (including caterpillars who can read). As the story goes:
Two caterpillars were crawling along together through the green grass. One was named Stripe and the other Yellow. They came to a tall pile of endless caterpillars. They were all trying to get to the top of the pile.
Stripe was fascinated with the idea of climbing to the top of the pile to find out what was on top. Yellow was not interested at all. They parted ways- Yellow continued through the grass while Stripe began to crawl up the pile. Remember we’re talking about human beings here.
As Stripe crawled toward the top, he realized that he must step and crawl on other caterpillars in order to move to the top. He did not like it at first. But Stripe got used to it and it did not bother him then. In fact he got good at it.
Stripe continued to climb until he saw that he had to knock some caterpillars off the pile in order to get to the top. Stripe was successful in his climb. As he got very near the top, he heard a voice say, “Why, there’s nothing up here at all!” Another said, “Quiet you fool! They will hear us below- and we’re where they want to be.”
And Stripe felt frozen- to be so high and not be high at all. While Stripe had been relentlessly pursuing the top of the Caterpillar Pillar, Yellow was spinning a cocoon. Stripe then saw Yellow flying along as a butterfly, taller than the pile, fluttering across the horizon because Yellow had gone into the cocoon and she had died to herself. Now she was free and sailing in the breezes.
We can learn many things from this story. When I first heard it, I took that we must know where we are going to go in life and what goals we are trying to reach. Although there is no way to know our final destination and we will need to explore the different paths. But we must not be like Stripe and crawl over everybody knocking them out in the process. We must be aware of our situation because those around us matter too. It is critical for us to dream and live life from the right perspective. Yellow was told: “[Butterflies] are what you are meant to become. It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth to heaven. It drinks only nectar from the flowers and carries the seeds of love from one flower to another . . . Without butterflies the world would soon have few flowers.” So maybe as graduates we are becoming butterflies and we are the hope for the world, to bring peace and prosperity to those less fortunate than we so the world will have plenty of blossoming flowers. We are discarding our cocoon and becoming the butterflies that will sail into the breezes and connect earth to heaven.
There may be a time when we wonder if we will be able to make it. In First Chronicles Jabez asked God this simple prayer, which we can also ask, “‘Oh, that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.” God granted his request. God will always be there to help us along our journey and most likely we will need a lot of help in the years to come. We will need help along the journey, help to sustain us through the highs and lows, help to make sense of all our surroundings, help to prosper in this world, help to succeed where others fail, and help to love our enemies.
We are not the first class to graduate, and there have been many speeches preceding this day. There are many phrases that all graduates usually hear. We can find some of them on the Hallmark cards we’ve been receiving. But we can find truth in all these cliches. So here are some graduation cliches that I did my best to leave out of my speech so it would be original: “We are the leaders of tomorrow . . . This isn’t the end, it’s a new beginning . . . We came into this school as strangers and are leaving as friends . . . Use the knowledge gained here to make a difference in the world . . . The future is ahead of you . . . Cherish these days . . . We’ll look back and say that these years were the best in our lives . . . We are finally out of here! . . . We will go separate ways . . . We’ve gained so much . . . Be true to yourself . . . Dream big . . . We’re starting a new chapter in our lives . . . and the final cliche, We’ll never forget each other” And I seriously doubt we will.
I hate we are parting, but it is inevitable. We knew in kindergarten we would leave each other some day and some day is now today. All the day’s spent at Ridgecroft have been memorable and we owe many of the memories to the faculty and staff. They have been our mentors and role models along the way. After all, they are what makes the Class of 2005 a success story. You are in my heart forever and I will miss each of you dearly. We have grown close over the years. I love you guys. And as an eighth grade valedictorian close to my heart, my stepfather, once said, “Goodbye and Good Luck.”
:)
incase anyone's interested i thought i would post my graduation speech. i really enjoyed preparing and thought it went well.
Valedictory Address
June 3, 2005
Whitney A. Pilson
Greetings Mr. Murray, Mr. Winslow, Faculty/Staff, Parents, Family, Friends, and the Class of 2005 ...
There are nine of us who have been together since kindergarten: Ashley, Justin, Landis, Annie, Harrison, Denton, Jessie, Wes, and myself. In the second grade, Elizabeth joined the fun. Amanda and Hill came along in the third grade. Will and Keli hopped on the train in the fourth grade. But Keli only stayed for a year and came back later in high school. The first day of the fifth grade is the day I remember most clearly. Chris, Crystal, and Brittany are all vividly in my memory as they became part of the Class of 2005. In the sixth grade we gained the most new students, but only Ryan Godwin and Ryan Pierce stuck it out with us. As we began high school, there were eighteen of us who would finish the journey together. Ninth grade marks the start of the four years called high school that bring big changes and seem to set apart someone’s life. Ashley, Ian, and Jessica all decided to share these memorable four years with us. And finally, Chris and Justin joined us during our senior year and together, we all make up the 35th Graduating Class of Ridgecroft School, Alumni Numbers 719 through 742.
I was always so excited every year our class was able to add new names to the roster. But as I grew older I slowly realized that I should not be disappointed when it seemed like all the classes around us welcomed new students and we did not. The students in my class at that moment were all I needed and I am very thankful for our friendships. When I look back, I can distinctly remember times with all of you. All of us together make the Class of 2005 special. As our journey continued, there are some we unfortunately lost. But just as all losses, we remember them and move on. The most memorable loss of all may have been that of our third grade hamster or the headmistress who could do cartwheels across the gym. Haven’t seen those yet, Mr. Winslow.
I believe it is no accident that the twenty-four of us are graduating from Ridgecroft together. We have each brought something unique to the class. Each of us are all different from each other and we’ve learned from these differences. We all complement each other so well. But now we must find new relationships because we will be moving into different settings. Next year we’ll be starting as “new students” somewhere else. We’ll take our own uniqueness wherever we go and part of who we have become has been influenced by what we have learned from each other. Therefore, there will be a little bit of each of us wherever we all go.
We are separating to continue to learn about ourselves and our surroundings, to learn good from bad, and to learn the difference between friend and foe. I guess we will be playing the game of “Life.” But this will not be as easy as the board game and for this I am thankful because I never mastered that board game. Playing this game in reality may be a bit scary. There will not be any “That doesn’t count” or “Let me do it again” as we play this game and work to move forward on the board.
Our lives are about to change dramatically. The life we have been living is over and we will have to adapt to a new lifestyle. We will be moving on and trying something different. Tomorrow, not the tomorrow when we’re going to sleep late but the tomorrow’s down the road, will come and there will be many more times when life will change, and we will need to alter our lives to fit whatever we are going through. Right now we are graduating and preparing a life for ourselves in this great big world. The first thing we will do after graduation is leave each other. But it is important that we realize we are not leaving each other behind because we have become a family and over the years you have all qualified as the brothers and sisters I lacked. As Lilo states from one of my favorite Disney movies Lilo and Stitch, “Ohana means family and family means nobody left behind or forgotten.” We are ohana, and we will not leave anyone behind or forget anyone. We are just splitting apart to go on our own individual journeys. We must spread our wings and fly, expand our horizons, and increase our knowledge. Learning is not over for us. The opportunities are endless and I hope we all take advantage of what is available. There will be many places for us to go. And wherever we go, we should remember we will never stop learning about ourselves. We must stay young at heart and happy along the way. We should try to keep the childlike quality that keeps us curious and prompts us to ask questions as we continue to expand our territory throughout life.
We should set goals now of all the things we want to accomplish. There can be serious and/or silly items on our agenda. Some of the things on my list are to learn how to swing dance, to get a pilot’s license, to move after college to a big city that has a professional baseball team so I can be a season ticket holder (preferably Cincinnati or Baltimore), and simply to eat all three flavors of ice cream sandwiches in one sitting among other goals. I realize some of these things are far-fetched. Maybe being an only child has led me to think too much about the things I want to do instead of the things I should have been doing like cleaning my room.
Life is something to be taken seriously but it does not mean we have to be serious all the time in order to be successful. We will have to work hard and stay focused, that’s a given. But we also need to learn what makes us happy and what brings us joy. Again, some of the things on my “happy list” are hearing The Today Show’s Al Roker proclaim “ . . . and here’s what’s happening in your neck of the woods,” or catching the “All 80's Lunch” on the radio - 101.5 Noon to One, weekdays. Just these little things can brighten my day and lift my spirits. These little moments in our lives can serve as mood lifters any time they are needed. But we also must realize there will be bad days. Maybe we’ll have a panic attack or a high-stress day that doesn’t seem to end. I had one of those days recently and I felt like all I could do was cry and I did because everything went wrong that day. Obviously, I had missed Al Roker that morning. That day has passed, and I learned from it. We grow through the hard times. The bad days make the good days better. They come hand in hand. We should not be afraid of the days to come. Fear is natural and to be expected. Therefore we should face the days boldly and courageously.
With our newfound boldness and courage, we will start going places and we should realize that we are leaving the most important people in the world behind - our parents. They have contributed a great deal to what we know. I think we will all be able to reach our destination because of their love and belief in us. We will be able to go places knowing we will always be welcome at home. We cannot forget to call home and we must call often. After all, this may be the hardest thing our parents will ever have to do, to let their children go. We have been a major part of their lives for the past eighteen years and it is all about to change drastically. No matter where we go, the hands of our parents will always be there to pat us on the back and guide us.
Even though our parents will be there to help, we will be the ones making the decisions. Granted, we will make mistakes because, like fear, mistakes are a natural part of life. I’m going to tell you a short story about a caterpillar named Stripe who was fearless and had some important decisions to make. The story is called “Hope for the Flowers” and was written by Trina Paulus. She claims it is a tale partly about life, partly about revolution, and lots about hope for adults and others (including caterpillars who can read). As the story goes:
Two caterpillars were crawling along together through the green grass. One was named Stripe and the other Yellow. They came to a tall pile of endless caterpillars. They were all trying to get to the top of the pile.
Stripe was fascinated with the idea of climbing to the top of the pile to find out what was on top. Yellow was not interested at all. They parted ways- Yellow continued through the grass while Stripe began to crawl up the pile. Remember we’re talking about human beings here.
As Stripe crawled toward the top, he realized that he must step and crawl on other caterpillars in order to move to the top. He did not like it at first. But Stripe got used to it and it did not bother him then. In fact he got good at it.
Stripe continued to climb until he saw that he had to knock some caterpillars off the pile in order to get to the top. Stripe was successful in his climb. As he got very near the top, he heard a voice say, “Why, there’s nothing up here at all!” Another said, “Quiet you fool! They will hear us below- and we’re where they want to be.”
And Stripe felt frozen- to be so high and not be high at all. While Stripe had been relentlessly pursuing the top of the Caterpillar Pillar, Yellow was spinning a cocoon. Stripe then saw Yellow flying along as a butterfly, taller than the pile, fluttering across the horizon because Yellow had gone into the cocoon and she had died to herself. Now she was free and sailing in the breezes.
We can learn many things from this story. When I first heard it, I took that we must know where we are going to go in life and what goals we are trying to reach. Although there is no way to know our final destination and we will need to explore the different paths. But we must not be like Stripe and crawl over everybody knocking them out in the process. We must be aware of our situation because those around us matter too. It is critical for us to dream and live life from the right perspective. Yellow was told: “[Butterflies] are what you are meant to become. It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth to heaven. It drinks only nectar from the flowers and carries the seeds of love from one flower to another . . . Without butterflies the world would soon have few flowers.” So maybe as graduates we are becoming butterflies and we are the hope for the world, to bring peace and prosperity to those less fortunate than we so the world will have plenty of blossoming flowers. We are discarding our cocoon and becoming the butterflies that will sail into the breezes and connect earth to heaven.
There may be a time when we wonder if we will be able to make it. In First Chronicles Jabez asked God this simple prayer, which we can also ask, “‘Oh, that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.” God granted his request. God will always be there to help us along our journey and most likely we will need a lot of help in the years to come. We will need help along the journey, help to sustain us through the highs and lows, help to make sense of all our surroundings, help to prosper in this world, help to succeed where others fail, and help to love our enemies.
We are not the first class to graduate, and there have been many speeches preceding this day. There are many phrases that all graduates usually hear. We can find some of them on the Hallmark cards we’ve been receiving. But we can find truth in all these cliches. So here are some graduation cliches that I did my best to leave out of my speech so it would be original: “We are the leaders of tomorrow . . . This isn’t the end, it’s a new beginning . . . We came into this school as strangers and are leaving as friends . . . Use the knowledge gained here to make a difference in the world . . . The future is ahead of you . . . Cherish these days . . . We’ll look back and say that these years were the best in our lives . . . We are finally out of here! . . . We will go separate ways . . . We’ve gained so much . . . Be true to yourself . . . Dream big . . . We’re starting a new chapter in our lives . . . and the final cliche, We’ll never forget each other” And I seriously doubt we will.
I hate we are parting, but it is inevitable. We knew in kindergarten we would leave each other some day and some day is now today. All the day’s spent at Ridgecroft have been memorable and we owe many of the memories to the faculty and staff. They have been our mentors and role models along the way. After all, they are what makes the Class of 2005 a success story. You are in my heart forever and I will miss each of you dearly. We have grown close over the years. I love you guys. And as an eighth grade valedictorian close to my heart, my stepfather, once said, “Goodbye and Good Luck.”
:)