Valedictorian's speech

Today is the day we have been waiting years and years to finally come – that last step into our future. However, this is not merely a day of reflection; it is a day of celebration. These past twelve years in high school have all led up to this moment. On behalf of the class of 2012, I welcome all of you to our graduation ceremony.

Our class motto is “Life brings tears, smiles, and memories. The tears dry, the smiles fade, but the memories last forever.” We have had our “ups” and “downs” throughout school, but we will always remember what we have accomplished within these walls. We have all had our share of tears – tears of joy and tears of sadness. But we move past these moments toward that final goal of success, that day where we can stand up in front of the world and say that we are proud of ourselves – today is that day. The smiles might fade, but they are never far away. With those everlasting memories, we can easily reminisce and smile about the legacy we have left on the Odessa School District through the teachers, the classrooms, the other students we are leaving behind. Yes, Mrs. Wraspir’s chairs in the library worked as wonderful footrests. We always used the few moments she was gone to stretch out our legs. And negativity is certainly not welcome in Mr. Moffet’s CWP class – he has let several of us know. Who could have believed we would make music videos, and in Spanish, too! Mrs. Allington was amazed at our lip-synching skills. There’s also Mr. Schuh and his dancing…and the Skitty voice as I like to call it. We have made the most out of the school’s last year with Mr. Wehr. Balloon launchers, robots, any type of experiment that is imaginable. Mrs. Whitmore was probably stressed when we needed some last-minute help with our applications, at 11:00 p.m. to be accurate. Most recently, the short impromptu speeches in Dr. Pitts’ speech class kept us in a good humor. Describing “cool lakes” and “woodland paths” can be quite difficult, but hilarious at the same time. They were quite a contrast over the semester of Robert Frost, which we…absolutely loved! Yeah, you can say that. All of these happenings brought us classmates closer together. We were in for the long haul, so we wanted to make the most of our time here in this school.

This past year has been a whirlwind of applications, scholarships, and homework. By still managing to have fun through all of the paperwork, we have shown that we prefer to define our lives through positive thinking. Doldrums might come around once in a while, but they never linger for too long. We used our teachings from each class to believe that for every step backward, we would take two steps forward. Such reinforcement will help in the college and careers that are ahead of us. And as a class, we have accomplished some feats that we are very proud about! We were the first group of students to pass the first time through the reading and writing HSPE (the successor to the WASL). And everybody who began senior year is standing here today, ready to graduate. These accomplishments are what define us – both as individuals and as a group.

Most people say that senior year is the best, but I never believed them. We had to experience it for ourselves, stress and all, to realize that the teachers are not there to fail us; they just want to open the door into the future. At this time, I thank all of the teachers here in Odessa for putting up with us over the years. We intended to be loud, but let us just pretend that we were overly enthusiastic about our work – so much that we were easily sidetracked. And I cannot forget the people of Odessa. Note that without such a gracious community, we would not have had such a meaningful path to success. Everybody within this town depends on each other in some way or another, and so you have supported us. We give you all a well-deserved thanks.

Graduation – today feels like any other school day, but with a slightly larger audience. And to my classmates, we are here. FINALLY! This is not a new beginning in our lives, but rather a continuation of the mark we have been setting on Earth. This is not a “good-bye” to one another, but a “good luck!” Now, as Benjamin Franklin stated in Poor Richard’s almanack, “You may talk too much on the best of subjects.” On that note, thank you all again for attending this splendid occasion.