Graduation Speech : My Experience

How are you doing? This is Will, the tall black guy you would sometimes see in service. I'm writing to say goodbye. My project in Carson City came to an end and I've moved back to Texas. Thank you so much for making me feel at home at Hope. Your messages kept me going while I was in Reno. God used your words to truly bless me and also show me where I need to improve. Sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye in person, but everything happened so fast.

Since my presentation was only in front of three people I was not nervous, which was an amazing feeling. Not once did I lose my train of thought and I felt so much more confident than I usually do during presentations. It was a great experience for me, I hope that I can learn to feel as confident in large groups as I do in small groups. My group was very warm and welcoming. I did not feel rushed or as though I was boring them to death. I found that they were actually very interested in the article I selected to review and began asking questions before I got to my discussion questions.

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, faculty, staff, graduates of the Class of 2012, families and friends.

Welcome fellow graduates and honored guests to the sixtieth anniversary of commencement for Stoll Community College. For those graduating, this day marks the culmination of a period of courage, commitment, and accomplishment. For these reasons, I am greatly honored to be chosen as student speaker for this outstanding class of graduates and I hope that my words will give a measure of justice to the significant event that has brought all of you here tonight. Hopefully, we will laugh a little, perhaps cry, and give some much-deserved praise.

In the commencement speech entitled “This is Water,” the speaker came to highlight to the graduates at the commencement ceremony, what the “real world “was like because he thought they are not alert enough to know. He made reference to this through the anecdote at the beginning where the two young fish didn’t know what water was and of course water is life to fishes. Therefore, the speaker found it necessary to tell what life was really about through a commencement speech because of his opinion that they may have limited knowledge concerning it. In paragraph 6 of his speech, he states “The plain fact is that you graduating seniors do not yet have any clue what ‘day in, day out’ really means. There happen to be whole large part of adult

Christopher Columbus, reflecting on his voyage which led him to the discovery of America, said, "Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World." I am sure that after four years of high school, we have all formed our own opinion of Christopher Columbus - especially if you had Mrs. Powers - but whether you view him as a genocidal rogue or the first American Hero, I find his quote fitting for where we stand today.

As a group we decided to include a “College Success” course for freshman within out First Year Experience. Instead of making the course required, we would prefer to make the class optional and offered for 2 credits. The class would be for 50 minutes per day and either Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday and available both spring and fall semesters for first-year students at High Point University. The course would be recommended to all freshman for the fall semester in order to assist in the transition to college life, but would be offered spring semester as well for students who struggled first semester with becoming acclimated to the university.

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.

We all have had many stones read to us, and even read many ourselves. In elementary school they were stories of Lad, Jane and Spot. Each of us beamed with pride as we stumbled over that first line of "See Lad go," or "Run Jane run." Then, in junior high we learned about plot and theme, and the characters of the stories actually developed personalities. Now, as graduating seniors, many of us have learned that stories can teach us valuable lessons about life. Even the simple stories from elementary school contain lessons that we can relate to our own experiences. One story in particular that just happens to be from my favorite producer, Disney, and emphasizes the importance of friendship is "The Fox and The Hound." As this story

At the very beginning, of when hearing about First Year Experience I was indifferent about going. I knew that if I attended FYE then I would not get my summer after my high school career. Instead, I would graduate high school and then enter school again, but sooner than others. I do wish I had a long summer before entering school again, yet living in the experience now changes my whole outlook of entering college early. There are the good times, bad times, stressful times, and the sad times. One just has to take it all in and try their best to process what happens. I, myself, has done that, and still am doing, since starting the summer program. And with every decision I make, they’re either a benefit or a toll on my body both physically and mentally.

When I accepted my admission to Vassar, it was to pursue my second degree in dramatic arts. I came under the pretext that this was a “prestigious” program and that I would gain an immense amount of knowledge and experience as a drama student. Almost immediately I began to realize the many flaws within the dynamics of this department. Coming into the program you are required to take the intro course regardless of your theatrical experience. This requirement stands in your way of taking any other course in the department so it is a class that is a hot commodity. Somehow, in a class that originally had 39 students, only 3 of us were phenotypically Black. There can of course be other students who identify in this way, but their body does not read blackness the way mine and the body of my other 2 classmate do.

After graduating college, many aspects of your life start to change. For example, now you have to find a full-time job within your degree, your social life starts changing, you are no longer able to afford the same luxuries as before, and lastly you are learning how to live independently without the help of your parents. Now is the time to move to the next phrase in your life, away from everything you once knew.

Obtain an overall GPA of 6.5 by November 2018 to guarantee me a place into Psychology Honours in 2019 at UniSA.

After living at Syracuse University for the first semester I have done things both inside and outside of my comfort zone as I have adjusted to life as a college student. I used to cheerlead throughout high school for both the basketball and football seasons, so attending my first football game in the Dome was something I easily crossed off my checklist within the first week of being a college student. From freshman year to senior year of high school, I had attended every single football and basketball game, whether I wanted to be there or not. As a member of the varsity cheer team, at every single game I cheered on my school and learned the basics of each sport. The second I received my acceptance letter in the mail, I asked my parents to purchase me the season tickets for all of the Syracuse football and basketball games. Although I do not necessarily love all sports, the idea of going to every football and basketball game was a goal of mine to show my school pride and get the full experience of college. One of my requirements when searching for the right college for me was a lot of school spirit and sports, along with educational requirements, all of which Syracuse fulfilled.

English class seemed to be the most dreadful to take within school. Writing essays for most of my grade in a class is not what I was looking forward too. When I entered college I knew that it would be one of many challenging classes I would have to take. Starting from the lowest English class to moving on up, the writing assignments became longer and more thought out. The time came when I got into this class that I knew more work was going to have to be put into essays and thus brought out what I had not seen before in my work progress.