now or never

I wrote a graduation speech quite some time ago and I thought I'd share it with whoever reads my blog, because at one point it was meant to be shared, and I graduate today. Even though two other fine young ladies are giving their speeches today (both with whom I trust to do the job); there's at least a few nice things in this metaphorical approach to my graduation speech. hope you enjoy!



It’s difficult to visually capture the feeling of graduating. While our last days of class were last week, and we walked out of those doors for the last time as students, the last time we walked through those doors is not necessarily the last time we walk into the building. The interesting aspect of meriweather post pavilion is how open it is. There are no walls separating the stage from the outside; air just comes in and out as it pleases. And the breeze may carry a scent that triggers a memory for years after today, but there are no boundaries in the physicality of this pavilion, nor are there boundaries to encountering the people we’ve spent these years with. And there are no bounds to where we will go in the time ahead of us. Some of us may return to cheer on sports teams, visit teachers, encourage friends; some of us have new journeys that will lead us to other people, other buildings, other countries even.

Yet, right now we are here, over looking the life of high school graduate. The life of been-there learned-that. The life of, I haven’t been there. We’re kind of used to transitions, being the transitional first class to enter Reservoir High School after transitioning from middle school to high school. As we reflect, we may remember more names than test-scores, more faces than names, and more of whom those faces represent than what their physical attributes show. More than a memory is who each of us are on this day because of those people. Maybe because of these changes we have had to find ourselves and our beliefs and what we stand for.

We can look back and cry for the smiles we’ve been able to spark in one another; for the value of each person in this place. Each moment is monumental, and today is a first; a first walk across this stage; a first in the history of Reservoir High School’s graduating class; a first step out of our comfortable place at the top of high school; a first entrance into a world of possibility and promise. The first time we really have to say, “this is over.”

We lost registration to a former school. We lost the naivety of being freshman. We lost four years. We lost the presence of a wonderful loving teacher in our school. We lost friends. We may have felt like we lost ourselves in the process of some of these trying events and unchangeable realities. And yet we’re found today here together, under this open pavilion, with an open future. Amidst the loss of the past we have all won here today, together, making up a class filled with many different qualities, personalities, talents, and goals. This victory is proof that through trials and tribulations and irreplaceable memories, we can grow and learn from each of our very different experiences. This victory is one monumental part of a vast journey we have yet to experience. It is a journey filled with times we’d like to be able to capsulate and hold onto in an open world that has no bounds. So where will we go now that there are no walls housing our high school experience? The air is fresh outside, it gives life; it’s elements have survived time’s limits. May we simply breathe, let our curiosity lead us and let our memories reinforce our ability to continue to top the best days of our lives with each day ahead of us.






PS- 2005 rocks the house. BEACH TOMORROW! ahhh yes.