Valedictory_Address

Valedictory Address It’s that time again. The time where the graduating class sits and listens to me, the chosen student, speak while their fingers itch to throw their graduation caps in the air. The band is at the top left corner as usual and Mrs. Fergusson is hanging on my every word waiting for me to finish so that she may lead the band in a tumultuous chorus of music signaling the last bite of one slice of the delicious cake that is our lives. Of course last year and the year before last year, I was sitting where my fellow tubas players sit now; in a church pew extremely unfit for the large berth of our golden instruments. I remember clearly how much I wished to be where I am today. Here. Graduating. But during my last year at FRC I realized that everything is too short, especially time. It seems like yesterday when we all arrived at the welcoming barbecue. I'm sure I wasn’t the only one that felt shy and worried and insecure. When I look back on that day, I realize that feeling that way was quite reasonable, because after all, no one knew what to expect from this new school. It was like opening up one of the Russian nesting dolls dolls. Except this one had not only a smaller nesting doll under each layer, it also had a surprise. As time passed, I could see that I wasn’t the only one that became sick of opening the nesting doll. It was layer after layer after layer. There were too many surprises of homework assignments, than there were of outings. There were too many surprises of tests and other evaluations, than there were of fun event and movies. It became tedious and I felt like Greek God Atlas, holding the weight of the world on my back. It was heavy and I wanted it to end. One day as I was going for a walk at Kings Park with my best buddies (yes I like walks, no big deal) I realized that the terrors that I and the people around me had associated with school were actually gifts. The many assignments taught us patience as we got through them one by one. The difficult tests taught us determination as we strove for the top. The long tedious projects taught us persistence as we ran for the finish line. But the most important lesson was taught by our failures. We were shown that life is difficult at times, but every one of our mistakes, is another arrow pointing us to where success is; because you won’t find success without learning from your failures. This recent year has been tough too. I went home almost every day wanting time to pass faster so I could be done and graduating already, yet when I studied for hours for bio, or chem, or physics, or worked late into the night on that ELA project, I always felt like I didn’t have enough time. So why did I want time to pass faster' I now realize that I don’t. I’ve learned to enjoy the good and the bad. I think back on those times where I should have taken more pictures, saving the memories that I may slowly forget as I embrace the whole other slice of cake that is adulthood. But unfortunately, we can only step forwards. Life doesn’t give us a chance to walk back, and we must accept that. So while we still can, let us reminisce. It seems like just last week, Mr. Bailey was yelling at the people knocking on our classroom door because we didn’t have enough time to finish the unit we were on. We actually did, although we moseyed along at our own good pace. Or the week before where Mr. Wright asked a fellow student of mine, who was wearing a yellow shirt and eating a banana, if it was Banana day in his family. Or the week before THAT when Mr. Wiebe graciously gave me the opportunity to turn a watermelon into a million pieces flying around the room whose vector sums equal zero. To these teachers and other teachers whom I have not mentioned I wish to say thank you. Not only from myself but also from the students who stood alongside me as you gave us nuggets of wisdom. Do not belittle yourself for these nuggets of wisdom will be our guiding compasses as we further our educations and ultimately find our profession. So in effect, you are an important deciding factor in what we will make of our lives. To my friends and fellow classmates I would also like to say thanks. During these years I’m sure you’ve inspired many. Whether it is Suraj Srinivason making the hardest math problem look like a walk in the park, or Taylor Stoez coming up with another writing piece that makes us wonder why she didn’t write Hamlet. I'm sure many people have looked at you guys and been inspired to work harder and try harder. Or maybe it’s Leo Lin playing his new sax solo or Emanuel Lomuro dunking for the basketball team. It’s all inspiring and it’s all around us and it’s helped us to become who we are. But most importantly I would like to thank my parents. One way or another, in their own special manner, they have supported me all the way; even if their support has been loud at times. They were always the people I could depend on to drive me to school at 6:30 in the morning on a weekday so that I could be on time for a band trip or drive me halfway across the city so that I could attend a school gathering of sorts. They faithfully packed my lunch every day and chastised me when I didn’t eat. I used to think this was annoying till I realized that food is important. You have to eat. They were just worried for me. They were the people who taught me that to be truly fast at getting the million assignments done, I need to have efficiency, not speed. Speed will get them done, if I want to be forced to do them again. But efficiency will get them done well the first time. Because of you guys, I learned a lot more and became much more mature during the span of the last few years. Because of you guys, I was able to achieve amazing things. It may seem simple but I’m truly speaking from the heart when I say, “Thank you. You guys are really awesome.” Amazing things don’t only happen in school though. They also happen out in the world. 2010, the bookmark marking the beginning of our last year in school before adulthood, was a year of struggles. From the European debt crisis, to unemployment in the US, to the political catastrophe in Thailand, the world cried. However, it was also a year of achievements. From the synthetic genome to the first face transplant, to the Solar Impulse project. 2010 was a year of tragedies, from the oil spill, to the floods in Pakistan, to the earthquakes in China and Haiti. But it was also a year of new milestones, from the closure of the Iraq mission, to the election of the first Female President in Cost Rica, to the Shanghai expo with 73 million visitors. As we grow older and enter the world as adults, we must take note of these events that shape our society and what it means to be human, for age grows hand in hand with responsibility. When we were young, we were only responsible for keeping our crayons intact and in the box. As we grew, we became responsible for taking our homework home and cleaning our rooms. As we grew even older, we became responsible for doing things around the house and helping out our friends. One day we will be responsible for a family and possibly contributing something meaningful to the world. Remember my fellow classmates that whenever you feel down you can always get back up. You always have that option and there will always be people willing to help. Who knows where each of us will be in 10 years' No one, so let’s not worry about it till that day comes. Live for the day and be proud to be who you are. Life has many hurdles but the most important thing is to remember who you are. As Jules Verne said, “All that is impossible remains to be achieved,” so go out there and achieve the impossible. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the graduating class of 2011. Thank you.