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

High school has been a transforming experience. None of us are the same as we were when we walked in as freshmen. Most of us have matured. Like many of you, I am thankful for teachers like Coach Adair and Ms. Dibble, who taught us not what to think but how to think. We have learned how to see the world from others’ perspectives after we have climbed into their skins and walked around in them. Thanks to Mr. Pacharne for teaching us how to work out math and physics problems. If it were not for the challenge and beauty of AP Physics, I would not have considered engineering. When I look back on my high school years, I will not remember what the Zimmerman telegram said or where the medulla is located, but I will remember the lifelong friends and mentors I made and the reasoning skills I

No matter your hatred or love for this place, it’s all you’ve got and it’s given you all you need. It has blessed you with a preview of the big, real world and all the struggles life will throw your way. Along with this great privilege, we are taught lessons we will remember forever. Senior, Hannah Dennis, says she will never forget that, “You can do so much good, and people are still going to point out the negatives. Keep trying and never give up on your dreams.” Whether you believe it, or not, all the hardships you are being faced with today are only sculpting you into your own individual.

My experiences with High School have been increasingly good. I started the year in agony. I hated everything about it. I didn’t have hardly any friends in lunch with me. I also didn’t like a lot of my teachers. I struggled with getting around the school. Thankfully, that has all changed. I’m starting to realize my opportunities and experiences are bigger and better than last year. I’ve met so many new people and made countless friends. I’ve learned more about myself and who I am.

It's a sad thought leaving this school, but that won't keep us from going to highschool after the summer break. Life just feels so rushed, it feels like just yesterday I came in here and made my first Bondar friend Vishal. It feels like just yesterday we were all dreaming and talking about going to high school. Now, we're almost there, and the pressure to decide what we want to become when we are done highschool is rising like crazy. All I hear in this brain of mine is teachers saying things like we're preparing you for your future or teachers saying reach out for the stars. It'll be hard for me to forget this school’s theme and colourful walls.

Students, faculty, family, friends, on this exciting day, I speak to optimism, laughter, and grins.

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.

Well guys, we've made it. We've made it through four years of one of the most highly involved times in our lives. We've seen all, we've done all, and at this point in the year, most of us have probably had enough of it all. If you think about it, four school years is really a long time. four years of high school is equal to 720 school days, 4,320 class periods, and if you're a busy guy like me and you tend to count things by the minute, then it might surprise you to know that we've been in class for about 237,600 minutes. Class of 2006- are you ready to graduate?

[Go up with Senior Homecoming t-shirt and hold up front and back so everyone can see]

In four years, this class has grown from a group of awkward, unsure teenagers into caring, mature, confident adults. Every one of us has endured our own personal struggles. We have cried over boyfriends and girlfriends, fought unmercifully with our parents, crammed for Dr. B's notorious mid-terms, and sunk into the depths of severe senioritis. Separately, we have survived the painful life that is teenagerhood. Together, however, as a class we have managed to attain a level of excellence unsurpassed by any other. The kind, accepting, forgiving, eager, willing and energetic qualities that our class proudly possesses set us apart as a group with irrepressible spirit. Just by doing what we do, and being who we are, this class has touched the lives of both students and staff. Perhaps without even knowing it, this class of 2006'a presence has made Billwood High School a better place. The impressions this class has made, I believe, has even inspired other students to strive for greatness. And in that way, our class will live on forever. We are to Billwood as Braveheart was to Scotland.

“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

A wise person once said something to this effect: "Quotes are just another way of masking one's true feelings." I'd tell you the person who wrote it, but I can barely even remember it word for word. It's funny I crossed paths with this quote just days before I was informed I would be speaking at commencement. Someone or something, maybe a higher power, meant for this quote and I to meet. The irony of the whole situation is that the author's quote was turned into a quote, which is most likely the opposite of their intentions.

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.

Coming in as freshman, we were scared, nervous, and overwhelmed with the transition to come. At orientation, we were introduced into a whole new world.  A world with weird hallways that did not follow any numerical order. A world with lockers that no one used and were merely decoration.  Even in this time of unknown, we were still excited.  Excited about the change to come, about taking the next step in our lives.  And so, we adapted, we evolved, and we found a way to flourish and make this new world our home for the next four years.  Our first year had some of the best parts of high school in it.  We saw our first spirit week, our first home varsity football game, our first pep rally.  We participated in clubs, sports, and even got to go on a fieldtrip to Myrtle Beach.  While classes were longer than we were accustomed to, and teachers often assigned more work,