For some of you graduates, this will be the last ceremony you might ever sit through. Most of us, though, and I regret that I am in this group, will sit through many more ceremonies -- ceremonies longer and more tedious that this or anything else you can imagine. If you think this is bad, try a college graduation. Think, that is, attend a wedding. And, if just for a moment you think that that is bad, just be thankful you have never attended or will attend a Bar Mitzvah.
The only ceremony I think anybody would truly enjoy attending is a funeral. But, only if you are lucky enough, or unlucky enough, to be the guest of honor, because, really, that will be the only time you will be able to be honored at a ceremony and not have to make chit
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What I did, was grab a random book off my book shelf. Then I chose a random page from that randomly chosen book. And then, I chose a random sentence, from that randomly chosen page, from that randomly chosen book. The results were interesting, if not remarkable. I think it's a great theme and so let me share. My book was Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights," my page was page 10, chapter two. My quote, and as of now, theme for my speech, is: "My neighbor struck me as bordering on repulsive, I knew, through experience, that I was tolerably attractive." Wow! I think that, that is one great theme. It works.
(Pull out pocket mirror)
I am tolerably attractive. As for my neighbor. Well, you be the judge. Really, what are the chances of two attractive people sitting next to each other. Not likely. Why not try it yourselves. Visualize yourself, or if you have access to a mirror, look at yourself. Alluring huh? I bet you have to admit, you're tolerably attractive. Who are you kidding? You are foxy. You are a fox. If you were a Quentin Tarantino movie, you would be Foxy Brown. Now tear yourself away from your own adorable self and turn to your right. See that person. Pretty appalling. If it's a man, he's not very handsome is he? If it's a woman, not very pretty is she? And if you cannot tell what sex it is? Well I have got three words: Re-Pug-Nant. See, this is not just a theme for my speech, it is a rule for life. You
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
Students, faculty, family, friends, on this exciting day, I speak to optimism, laughter, and grins.
Our graduation is our coming of age, our right of passage. As we walk across this stage we are writing the closing pages to our Chapter I and heading into the great unknown. It's kinda scary -- but hey, don't you cry, even though high school is over, the times we've shared and the friends we've made will never be lost. The clock is ticking, time is fleeting and nobody lives forever. But true friendship is something we can count on never dying. I hope wherever we go in life it will be happy and even if we all move to remote island countries we can all count on the memories and laugh at all the stupid things we did.
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, faculty, staff, graduates of the Class of 2012, families and friends.
Well, this is it. These are the only seniors who were able to survive the culminating exhibition. If I had known that there would be this many open seats, I would have invited my third cousins from Norway. You know, it's funny. As I look around at the familiar faces in the student section, I am reminded about something. Our class, particularly the girls, have been very fashion-conscious over the last four years. Some even seem to be in competition with one another. Well girls, here we are on the most important day of your high school careers, and you're all wearing the same thing. The guys, on the other hand, could care less. I know for a fact that a couple of you aren't wearing anything underneath your tailored tarps.
As I look back upon the past four years, in some ways it seems like my time at Kiper has been a lot like a day at the Magic Kingdom.
“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
The old poet Kahlil Gibran, a long time ago, once said, "You work that you may keep pace with the soul of the earth. For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life's procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission toward the infinite." An interesting thought, that we work in order to keep pace with the earth. Now, I'm sure you're asking yourself, how can my near minimum wage job, where the customers treat me like a doormat and I still have to be pleasant and chipper, keep me in sync with the soul of the earth. Well I imagine there are higher rewards to part-time high school jobs, but other than the always too small pay checks, I am hard pressed to fathom them. Yet, that is not the kind of work I
Well, this is it. Our last night. The last page of the scrapbook we call high school. Our scrapbooks are filled with memories from the first day we walked into these halls ... to this very night. Pictures crammed in, ticket stubs nestled between them, adorned by dried corsages and newspaper clippings, yellowed with every fond recollection.
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
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the 2012 graduating class of County High School, I would like to welcome you to our commencement ceremony. As valedictorian of this class I would like to speak to you, and my fellow graduates about responsibility, but first I would like to tell you a little story
Depending on who you talk to, you get different opinions on what subject that you’ve studied in high school will help you most out in the real world. Ms. Bow tried to tell you it’s being able to diagram sentences and understand Shakespeare. Mr. Roberts, on the other hand, has a picture of a toppling bridge that says "Engineer missed just one Trig assignment." If you’ve spent a lot of time staring at Mr. Groon's podium during lectures, you’ve read that "He who knows only his own generation remains always a child." But what does this all mean, how do we truly apply everything we’ve learned in the past four years to the rest of our life, and what really is the most important thing to take away with us from high school? Well, I’ll tell you my
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
Years ago there was a traveler who came upon an old-fashioned pump from which he would have to pump the handle in order to retrieve the water. Beside the pump there was a pitcher full of water, and on the pump there was a sign. The sign instructions were to prime the pump with the water in the pitcher, pump the water for use, and then refill the pitcher. The thirsty man looked at the pitcher, the pump and the sign. He thought to himself, "If I pour this water down the pump, and it doesn't work, I will have no water to drink and it will be wasted. But, if I drink the water, I will be satisfied, but the next traveler will have nothing.