Graduation Speech : Elementary School

I started writing my first real essay in the Eighth grade, and I never knew why I was given such an awful task. I am a terrible English/Writing scholar and I never could comprehend the concept of writing. I put a lot of work and heart into my first essay, but that still didn’t get me the grade that I wanted. Needless to say I got a “D” on the essay. I was extremely disappointed in the grade I made and I wanted to reject writing all together, but that is not the kind of scholar I am, so I began my journey during my Eighth grade year to become a better writer. I had many academic goals that year, but my main goal was to excel on the English state writing test at the end of the year. The test would determine if I moved on to ninth grade English or if I would get placed in a pre-high school English program. To achieve my goals I knew that I was going to have to work hard not only on developing the papers I write, but also making sure they are grammatically correct, interesting, and that each story or essay gets the main point across as well.

Tonight since it was my last time working with Keily, I told keily that today she could pick the game that we played today, but I told her it had to be math related. Of coarse, the first couple games that she wanted to play were not math related at all, but the she asked if we could play a card game. After observing in a kindergarden classroom last semester and looking at Pintrest from time to time, I drew from my previous knowledge to think of a card game that we could play that would relate to math. The first game that popped into my head was the card game war, but this was a modified version of the game. Instead of the regular war game, we would play addition wars. I told keily that in this card game we would split the deck of cards between

August 21st, 2017. The year where a handful of kids from Curtsinger, Gunstream, Shawnee Trail, etc, all come to Wester Middle School, as an official 6th grader. This is the year all of us went from being the “Big kids” in Elementary School All the way down to being the little babies of Middle School! As I was finishing the 5th grade, all of our teachers were helping us to figure out what it’s going to be like. I was terrified about getting late to classes and losing all my friends who weren't in my classes! These things freaked me out just thinking about them!

You walk in scanning the badge I gave you the night before you go up the stairs and look no one sees you . walking up to the room I told you about you go in and lock the door , in the middle of the room you see an abandon desk. in the corner is filing cabinet and there a door on the left side

Throughout life people go through so many adversities. Whether it be good or bad there is always something that arises out of the situation. One of the most thrilling, but yet frightening events to take place throughout someone’s life would be graduation. For many people, graduating from high school is an objective. It takes a lot of time, effort, and determination to accomplish that goal. For others graduation is the end of high school, and the beginning of a new chapter in life. When graduated people feel as if adulthood has begun. In the long run, graduating opens a lot of opportunities for people to thrive.

During our lives, most of us have hated getting up early. Whether we as humans enjoy mornings or not, we’re always looking forward to that unforgettable day. That special is high school graduation for me. Graduation is a ceremony that recognizes students that have excelled through school. Graduation was one of the best days of my life, perhaps even better than the day that I started college. There is no other day like graduation where there comes this feeling of success, achievement, and excitement.

I remember seventh grade like it was yesterday. Everything was falling into place. I was happy with my life, had a strong relationship with God, and was content with where I was headed. My elementary and middle school years were just like any other Catholic school student. My schedule consisted of going to school, attending church, a sports practice, and then completing homework like everyone else. It wasn’t until eighth grade, where I was uprooted from that cookie cutter lifestyle, that I was actually challenged and pushed harder to be the best person possible, and to overcome the diversity and influences that I faced in the public school setting.

As we grow up and finish school we typically forget a lot of people along the way. We grow away from friends, new people move in, others move away, our interests change, and we are separated into more specific classes, but there is one exception, our elementary school teachers. Our elementary school teachers are some of the most influential people in our lives. They are some of the first people our parents leave us with when they go to work. As we enter elementary school, we may cry as our parents leave us and we often feel abandoned in a new place. That feeling soon changes when we are greeted by the welcoming, cheerful face of our first teacher. This is why I want to become an elementary teacher. I want to make an impact on the lives of children from the very beginning.

As I began school, I earned a much greater appreciation for the woods and lands on the ranch I grew up on. While I loved being at school, I dreaded the hour long bus ride each way. Not to mention the 15-minute drive down the ten-mile long dirt road to get to the bus stop. While in elementary school I was often found daydreaming and was often bored. After taking a series of standardized tests I was recommended for the gifted programs that were offered at the time. Although I did not want to be away from my friends, many of who were other ranch kids that I have been with since birth, I accepted going to the program at the urging of my teachers and my parents. I am not sure if the program is still in use, but as a child I found it amazing. There was very little strict curriculum, I was allowed to read all I wanted and there were many interactive lessons to choose from. I remained in that program throughout elementary, and wished that style of learning still existed as I moved on. Middle school was mostly a blur. I was in honors classes and did well, but really have very little memories of it as a whole. My single biggest memory from that time period was the start to my love of several of my hobbies, especially surfing and long range shooting. There were very few extracurricular sports offered except for little league baseball, which I always participated in and loved. My parents were extremely supportive of my endeavors, but never pushed them on me. I honestly

In the spring of 2014, I graduated as valedictorian from Klukwan High School located in the Panhandle of Alaska. During my high school career, I maintained status on the high honor roll and received the title of Student of the Month the first month of every school year for four years. In 2011 and 2012, I was selected to attend the Youth Leadership Institute in Anchorage as a student delegate for the Chatham School District. There, I met other high school students from all over Alaska. We spent our time at the conference exercising our newfound leadership skills in fun icebreaker games and group activities. We also learned about our own unique leadership styles, and how we can apply them to various situations back home or anywhere.

Going back to school when you are in your late thirty’s is a huge step. So much has

“No one is ever going to believe in yourself for you” –The Color Morale; a statement I’ve known all too well. For as long as I can recollect I have continually struggled with my self-worth. As a child my parents always preached about the importance of an education, “In order to be someone in this world you have to have an education.’ The words were engraved in my head and for a while my main focus was my education and pushing myself to my full potential. Growing up I consistently made honor roll. Elementary school consisted of me changing to specific classes that were designated for students who were academically above the rest of the grade level. I took much pride in my education and there was nothing that could stir me off course.

I was an average student in high school. I took a few challenging and AP courses, but I wasn’t an overachiever who earned an A in every course, however, I also wasn’t failing any of my class. I was the student who did the minimum work that was needed to pass the course. This eventually resulted in meeting with my assigned school counselor only once a year because it was mandatory. However, during my junior year I really began to focus on my future because I knew my years as a high school was coming to an end. But because I didn’t have a relationship with my assigned school counselor, whom I felt was too busy with other students on her caseload because her office door was often close, I chose to seek out to another school counselor on campus. The high school counselor who helped answer my questions regarding college and gave me information about the SAT test dates and fee wavier was Mr. Rios. Due to help I received from Mr. Rios, I later joined the school volunteer club Mr. Rios was the faculty staff in charge of that later helped me build my resume, life experiences, and network. With the relationship with Mr. Rios, I chose to interview him because he inspires me to continue working hard in graduate school so that I too, can have a similar position like him as a high school counselor in the near future.

Many students enter high school with a pessimistic mindset that is on the verge of rupturing in a total disaster. Fortunately, I was not one of those students. Ironically, I was just the opposite. I entered the walls of high school with much more than a faint feeling of trepidation. I entered, rather, with an indefinable desire to seek opportunities beyond the basics of what I was already capable of doing. The huge new school was both frightening and exciting for a 13 year old girl who was ready to make an impact on the world. That same 13 year old girl is now beyond the fears, beyond the anxiety, and beyond the anticipation. She has now surpassed 3 years of high school and is one step closer to achieving her dreams.

As a senior in high school, at Lincoln Academy, I plan to attend the University of Maine at Farmington for a 4-year bachelor 's degree in elementary education with a minor in psychology. I chose the University of Maine at Farmington because I want to be a teacher and as most people know Farmington offers an amazing education program. After college I want to join the Peace Corps and teach in other countries around the world.