Graduation Speech - Initial Experience

(Graduates of Saint Joseph’s University class of 2020, I, Nicole Schall welcome you here today to this wonderful celebration. It is so nice to see all of your smiling faces together one last time. I would like to thank President Reed, the administration, and that crazy professor who almost who almost failed me freshman year for the opportunity to speak here today. The one who almost caused me not to be standing here today. First and foremost, graduates, congratulations on all of your achievements thus far. Parents, professors, friends and family you should be proud of each and every graduate sitting here on St. Mary’s lawn today. Give yourself a round of an applause. (round of applause sound effect) Can you believe it is already graduation? Time really does fly when you’re having fun am I right? I can only speak for myself, but I’m sure many will agree with me that freshman move-in day seems like yesterday. But truth be told you all have grown since freshman move-in day, not just in height, or from the freshman fifteen, you are all smarter, brighter, and ready to take on the world.)

High school is supposed to be the place where you have fun and a time in your life you’re supposed to enjoy. Movies often trick you into believing that high school is an amazing time in your life and there is nothing but parties and fun. In Bring it on, they portrayed the fun and exciting part of high school cheer-leading, however they intentionally leave out the tough times high school students’ face in school and in their practices. In other popular movies, such as High School Musical the students have no pressures other than the next basketball game. In reality, this doesn 't happen. The constant pressure is affected by the grade level you are in. In high school, students can be classified based on the pressures that are faced in each grade level into the categories of freshman, sophomores/juniors, and seniors. I am here to help you make your high school experience less stressful.

Starting school for me wasn’t easy because I didn’t have a plan. I did what every high school student was urged to do after high school and I enrolled in college to pursue a higher education. Enrolling in college gave me the idea and hope that the college would provide a greater advantage in life and career endeavors. Beginning school as a first generation student was an opportunity for me that wasn’t without its challenges and learning experiences. Lacking knowledge in navigating financial aid or how to enroll in basic courses, I just went for it and started school.

Hello, we would like to welcome and thank all of you for being here with us tonight to celebrate our high school graduation . It truly is an honor to be surrounded by so many significant people who have impacted our lives immensely throughout our highschool years. We would like to thank the wonderful people here tonight that we have the privilege to call our parents. Whether you are a mother a father, grandma or grandpa, or an aunt or an uncle; we are here, graduating today because of all of you.

graduation ceremony. I would like to genuinely thank you all for coming out here tonight to celebrate with us our bittersweet moments of graduation. I would like to acknowledge and express my gratitude to my fellow peers and grade 8 teachers for choosing me to be your valedictorian and spokesperson for tonight. It is such a great honour to be valedictorian because you all trust me enough to summarise some of the most memorable years of our lives. This night is an extremely special night for us. We will speak about our past, present and future. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we are at least going to miss one person in our grade. The bright side though is that we have grown together and the memories with this great community will always last. Plus, we will get to experience so much more in high school. New friends, teachers, subjects, challenges and memories. We should take advantage of our knowledge and expand on it to get the best high school experience. So really, we should be happy that we have a good ceiling for our base in Grade 9 as Mr Grandsoult says. Let’s start off with our firsts.

Good morning respected guests and members of the community, staff, family, friends and fellow graduates. Let me begin by welcoming you all to today’s event and thanking Ms. Pavlou, Ms. Barresi, Ms. Adamo, Mr. Tenaglia, and _____ . I am absolutely honored to be standing here representing the graduating class of 2017. On behalf of the graduates, I would like to thank you for joining us on this auspicious occasion. Today is one of those great occasions when we get the opportunity to celebrate our achievements, our perseverance and successes as we grow up. It is one of the times that we can reflect just how much we have accomplished and grown in our years at 141.

High School graduation can be an exciting time in a student’s life. It is a time when they

It was a beautiful and sunny Sunday morning the day after I graduated from Villanova University. My parents were hosting a graduation brunch for me at the scenic Valley Green Inn in Philadelphia’s historic Fairmount Park. There were over a hundred guests present that day, a mix of family, friends, and others who made an impact on me over the course of my life. It was just a few short months away from the beginning of law school.

Looking back at all I’ve accomplished through out my K-12 years I’ve realized it’s taught me so much about life. In elementary I was taught my manners while incorporating basic subjects such as math, reading, writing, etc. I can remember how prestigious nap times were and the little snack breaks I used to have during class. Those days were the best days. My first academic success actually came in the third grade when I was on the honor roll all four quarters of the school year. I didn’t think being on the honor roll was such a big deal until I received my first certificate. I felt so privileged to have received that honor and truth be told I loved every second of it. The proud looks on my parents face really put the icing on the cake. I believe to this day that’s what got me so motivated to excel in my academics. With the help of my friends and family the hard work I put in truly paid off.

In my twenty nine years of life I have met every type of teacher. I remember when I was in

Friends that we make from our high school years are the ones that we will have for a lifetime. And I am glad I made some friends during the course of my high school years. Those friendships, hopefully, would travel with me until I enter college, the world of adulthood, and the very last stage of my life—death. One of those friendships, one of my treasures, is between Ryan and me. He and I first met in a math class back in freshman year. It was the first day of school, and everything—classmates, teachers, and even the classrooms—were all new to me. Sitting down and looking around, I saw some familiar faces from middle school, but, overall, I was basically a duck in a flock of chickens.

This course has taught me some valuable lessons of intellectual capital (IC) and the benefits my organization has received from it over the years. For instance, in my department, my co-workers have given the organization great praise for the training and the wealth of knowledge they have gained from the many educational classes HR have conducted. I further learn that IC in every cross section of my organization has increased the retention of employees. Another learning experience that I gain from IC is the increase level of every employee’s skill and their capability of solving or providing solution to customer’s problem.

If someone were to ask me a couple years ago if graduate studies were in my plans, my reply would be “absolutely not!” Back then, there was not really a good reason that motivated me to continue my education after graduating with a degree in Public Health Education. The mere thought of more school exhausted me. Though my mentality seemingly changed, one thing that cannot be denied is my love for the game of basketball, which has been almost cruelly ignored until recently. The countless times trying to live without it has led to me not feeling not quite as upbeat as usual. Even when things were going right in my life, that extra bounce in my step was just not there. While my playing career did not work out the way as desired, I still get a rush from simply being around the game; and then it finally hit me. I realize I can use everything learned through my work experience and previous coursework and apply it towards a career I know I will definitely love. From this point on, I will make moves that will make me happy rather than pleasing those around me. With that being said, this is why I seek to get into the Recreation and Sports Administration program at Western Kentucky University.

When did you decide your major in a university? Some people find their dreams when they’re kids, and for them this question is meaningless. I chose my major when I was in a senior year of high school. To tell the truth, in Japan, this is late. In Japan, students have to state a major when they apply for a university, and majors hold their own enrollment examinations. This means that high school students have to finish deciding their major while they are in high school. In order to be ready for this, teachers ask high school students their first, second and third choices of universities and majors right after starting their freshman, and then they will study for the enrollment examinations, which is the biggest purpose. What if students cannot decide these major yet? They probably choose well-known universities and interdisciplinary majors. However, most students are careless about how much the decisions mean to their lives. If they have specific plans or views of their lives, they can begin preparing for the next steps that mean they are able to be a few steps ahead of other students. More preparing has a lot of worth. Therefore, the best way to succeed in Japan is thinking about an educational decision early because of the better quality of study, the connection among majors, universities and jobs, and the correlation between majors and our personalities.

My educational experience is just now beginning as of now I am taking an English class also over summer I took an online academic skills class. Although online classes don’t do college justice you don’t really get the full college experience. As of now I am just focusing on my general education then eventually I hope to attend an RN program. So as of my educational experience this far would be high school and as Dweck author of Brainology would say I had a fixed mindset during high school even during grade school. Fixed mindsets care so much about how smart they will appear that they will reject learning opportunities. Which is exactly what I did during high school. Always thought as long as I was passing why try harder to get a better grade. Even if getting a better grade wouldn’t necessarily be hard.