Graduation Speech

A project for English.

Would you could you in a chair? Would you could you in a pair? Would you could you with a tassel? Would you could you unravel? The strings of your destiny and the void of your future? So would you could you under lights? Grasp a diploma tethered tight and glowing white? Good evening ladies, gentlemen, class of 2014…. my name is Jacquelyne Zahner. Welcome to the beginning of the end: Graduation

Graduation is a time of commencement, where your friends, family, peers, and classmates gather to celebrate the transition from one life to another. No longer are you the scared, “stupid” little freshmen who smell bad and eat too much. Now you’re all young adults, fully grown, fully educated, and well of aware of this thing called deodorant. Of all of you, a majority will be attending a university, but for those who don’t, cherish this moment and remember that it isn’t just a degree, a job title, tax deductibles, or the amount of money you made that matters when you hit the end of the road. What matters are those surrounding you and the love that guides them.

How many days have you spent watching movies instead of doing homework? Playing Call of Duty instead of studying? How much of an impact did you let distractions have on your lives? But isn’t that what high school is all about? Building relationships that will hopefully last long after high school. Maybe it’s just one person that sticks around, or maybe it’s three or four, but it’s still a relationship. Yes, college plays an important role in the quality of one’s life and well being, but what is life without relationships? Don’t graduate and forget about your friends, family, and classmates. Just take a look around you. These faces are the faces of those who helped to shape your life. Each student seated here today has had an impact upon your lives in one form or another. Maybe it was just a “hey” in the hallway when you were having a bad day, or just being here with you today, but every student has played their part.

When each and every one of you first entered high school you were individuals, part of a separate body. Each individual person was categorized as a “freshman” (Regardless of how “fresh” you actually were). Now, today, you are all here to prove that high school isn’t about individuals, but the group as a whole. You are Seniors! Not “senior,” but “seniors.” You are a body, a whole. Not one person, but an entire class. So thank your teachers, thank your friends, and thank your family. Thank them for the love they gave and the encouragement they poured upon you in your weakest moments, those times you wanted to give up, but didn’t. Thank your teachers for readying you for college and building your character with their words of wisdom. Thank your friends that etched permanent laugh lines upon your face and influenced you to keep going when you had enough. Most importantly, thank your family for loving you unconditionally an providing you with every necessity of life (food, shelter, love). Thank them all for not only being with you, but for being a part of who you are.

A Nike add once proclaimed, “All you life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you’re not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you’re the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no’s become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES.” Your future IS your destiny and it’s up to you to bend, build, and create anything you seem fit. If someone tells you that you’ll never succeed in your career, PROVE THEM WRONG. Optimism is the key to success, and now is the time to stop letting people control and rule over your life. Today is your day and no one can ever take that away from you. No matter how hard you try you can never UN-graduate. Forever you will have this diploma, and whether you walk the “road less traveled by” or the sidewalk is yours to choose no one elses.

Now that you’re here, where will you go? What will you do? Will you attend a university, spending countless nights and days studying, or will you skip college and work your way up the employment chain? Regardless what you choose, education means success, even if that means failing fifty times before you get there, and success means doing things and doing them well, regardless of the circumstances. As Tom Brokaw said, “You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as a ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world”

So would you could you stand up today? Walk the isle and make a change? Your destiny is yours to choose, but let it affect more than just you.

Thank You.

© 2013 Your Perfect Disaster

Author's Note

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ZeniaK

Great speech, I was moved! It's amazing, isn't it? The power of words and how they can affect a person? You've written a great speech here and I'm so glad you did because it was extremely motivational. No wonder you got such a good grade on it lol (as a sophomore in high school, the thought of graduation... scary, yes, but I'm looking forward to it, too. To move forward.)