Graduation Speech Essay

When I was younger, I would often return home to a familiar question: So, what did you learn today? My answer would always be "nothing" or "stuff." As I look back, I never lied, yet, I never told the whole truth. Many people think that you don't know anything with only 18 years of experience; I think they're wrong. I've learned a lot about myself and others from the relationships I have built throughout the years. I believe my most important lessons were "people" lessons. Those are the ones which could never be taught out of a book or in a lecture; you have to go out and experience them for yourself.

WOW! So much has happened since June. The SV FFA and ag department had a rough start to our year losing three of our students who were on the FFA officer team to other schools. Even with this bump in the road, the four officers that remained visited Mt. Shasta City and had a blast bonding and learning more about each other at their officer retreat in August. Once school started we found three new officers and attended COLC (Chapter Officer Leadership Conference) where the entire team learned about their diverse leadership styles and were able to bond together as the official Surprise Valley FFA Chapter Officer Team for the 2017-2018 school year. If you see them around, congratulate President Cindy Hinze, V.P. Maddison Seely, Secretary Maya

Edgar Allan Poe once said, "All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."

Well, this is it, the day all of us have been waiting for has finally arrived. It seems like only yesterday we were picking our noses and flicking them at innocent bystanders or yelling childish phrases like, "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" or, wait, that was yesterday. Never mind. Anyways.

“Drum majors, Jeremiah Wooten and Scott Smith, is your Corps ready?”, booms the announcer’s thunderous voice as our show starts. Our head drum major, Jeremiah, turns to the crowd and performs his salute initiating the true beginning of our show. I’m standing on the forty yard line of Ames Field in Michigan City, Indiana when I truly feel that I am performing my show in championship competition. Many veteran members told us rookies that the this competition will likely never be my best performance, and I intend on proving them wrong. Our show progresses, and I focus on being the best I can be every second this the show. An instant passes and we are now eight minutes into our eleven and a half minute show, and my body begins to develop

Henry Adams once wrote "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." This is so true, every teacher here has taught us much more than the textbook curriculum. Every teacher here tonight has given us students something we will use or remember for the rest of our lives. I really don't think people understand or appreciate the time and effort our teachers have put into us. So tonight I'm not going to give everyone advice on the future, I'm not going to tell you how life is a journey we've just begun, and I'm not going to brag about how great the class of 2006 is. Since we have eight outstanding Valedictorians this year, I'm sure all of those bases are already covered. So instead, I'm going to take a few minutes

A couple weeks ago, I was attempting to clean my room when I unearthed an old yearbook from my days in middle school. Rather absentmindedly I opened the book to browse through it. However, before long I became immersed in the memories brought back to life and quickly lost track of time. Over an hour later, I set the book aside and marveled at how much had changed since then. Not only had people changed physically, but they had also changed their friends, habits and behaviors. Furthermore, we have all grown as a result of the changing world around us, a changing world that has witnessed the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, as well as the constant birth of new technologies which make our lives easier. These changes have shaped

We wrap up the last full week of October, thrilled about this week's highlights! If you haven't heard, our school nurse Caren Etling and our educational technology specialist, Mike McQueen were both recipients of educational grants from the Clayton Education Foundation. With congratulations to them both, submitting creative and innovative proposals which benefit our school as a community, we are even more excited about the start of the work they will be pursuing. Caren Etling will now be able to expand the work of our Garden Club, continuing her partnership and support of Tom Sprengnether and science by ensuring all students have an opportunity to actively engage in gardening. Soon, Meramec will be the recipient of an indoor tower

We live in a time in which everything is categorized by lists, whether it’s a dreaded school rubric or a David Letterman Top Ten List. As the millennium turns, we are deluged with lists: the best books of the millennium, the greatest songs of the millennium, the most influential people of the millennium. Personally, I may be sick of all these lists, but no graduating class of 2006 could let this occasion slip by without one more list: The Top Ten Things I Learned in High School. So listen along and see if your experience parallels mine. Here goes:

Good evening and welcome to the commencement ceremonies of the class of 2006. It has been a long journey, somewhere around 18 years, but we've finally reached the piece de resistance of our high school years.

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote, "You are a very special person - become what you are." These words encourage us, the graduating class of 2012, to recognize the goodness and potential in each and every one of us and to go out and excel in the world. We are a diverse group of different aspirations and backgrounds, bound for different corners of the earth to carve out our won individual niches. Before we leave behind Lee Falls High School and each other, we must ask ourselves how we have become who we are.

Over the last few years of high school I feel like I changed in a positive way because in the beginning of my freshmen year of high school, I didn’t really think of how much my grades would affect my chances of graduating and going to college. I didn’t think I would make it this far and it didn’t matter to me because dropping out and getting a GED seemed like an easy way out for me at the time. But I realized that life could be hard out there. If you can just finish school, work on getting your diploma and maybe go to college and the real world and all you’ll have is GED that gets you little job opportunities when study for what you’d want to do for a career. Every time I felt discouraged, I told my teachers “Hey, I don’t think I can do this. I give up”. They made sure I got my work turned in on time to my class, because those teachers cared about my education, and at the end of the day when school is over and I’m going home, I think about all the homework I have to do and tests I have to study for.

Success. It is something that everyone wants, but no one knows exactly what it is. Some believe it to be how many friends they have, how nice their car is or even being able to stay awake through graduation. I believe it is something different. I believe that success is determined by what a person does with the gifts and opportunities with which they were blessed. Our times at Powell High School have given us both those gifts and the opportunity.

Here we are high school graduates. For many of you, tonight is a dream come true. Yet I think graduation is the attainment of a goal. A goal requires hard work. It drives people to better themselves on a daily basis. A dream, however, demands no work, no dedication, and no discipline. It is simply a faint hope. It is when a person turns their dream into a reality that things really start to happen.

First of all I want to take this opportunity to thank some people. I wish to extend my gratitude and gratefulness to all of you who are present today. The people who care and have made a difference are right here ... right now. The greatest gift any of us could have received is having the people who influenced all of our lives here to witness this milestone. Whether you are parents, teachers, family members, or friends, you have all contributed for us to reach this goal of acquiring our diplomas. All that any of us have accomplished can be credited to you and your undying support. You have been our advocates in our ongoing journey seeking education. I also want to thank God. Because of His unceasing love and grace, He has made all of this