Valedictorians' Address
Fellow Graduates, Parents and Honoured Guests:
Jesse and I have been classmates since kindergarten, and during those years have developed a lasting friendship. Throughout our friendship there have been laughter, tears, and of course, a little competition. As you can see, this competition has continued, resulting in us addressing you tonight as co-valedictorians. This has never happened before in the history of Worsley Central School. Because we are co-valedictorians, we jointly composed this address.
As you can imagine, creating an address for one person is difficult enough, never mind trying to combine two separate philosophies. But as Mindy and I were brainstorming, we realized that we have been on the same journey for the past twelve years. This road has been long and winding, and has already taken many turns.
Each graduate here tonight has started his or her own journey, surrounded by the people we call family. The first fork in the road comes soon enough. By the time we are five, we have ventured out on a new road called kindergarten. There we met the very people we are sitting on stage with tonight. We began this journey surrounded by the comfort of our loving families. Here, they sheltered and protected us as we took our first steps onto the path of life. Our families encouraged us through our struggles with learning to talk, learning to get along with others, and learning to seek independence. This paved the way for the individuals we were to become.
Our first step to independence was the day we entered the kindergarten class at Worsley Central School. We said goodbye to the parents we relied on; we said goodbye to the belief that we were the centre of the universe; we said goodbye to the days of independent play. But as we said goodbye, we welcomed new friends, new challenges, ... and we learned that you have to stick up your hand to ask to go to the bathroom. Elementary gave us the basics of our educational journey.
After six years of being sheltered by our elementary teachers, our path took another turn, this time into the junior high wing of the school. The first few days were full of changes. Now we had to contend with numerous teachers, movement to different classes, and the pressures to be "cool". We left behind the playground, the crayons, and the childish games. Through junior high we began to discover ourselves and to take pride in our own independence.
Senior high brought many forks in the road. Each person chose a different path to achieve the same goal - a high school diploma. During high school, even though we were essentially one class, each person chose his or her own route, and therefore we lost the cohesiveness of the class. We were joined by unfamiliar faces ... who soon became friends. Senior high required us to accept responsibilities for our own decisions, and to look towards our own unique futures. The closure of this phase of our lives is symbolized by tonight.
Graduation is more than just a celebration. It represents a major turning point as we prepare to enter the world. Each one of us on the stage here tonight is a traveller ready to choose a new path. Our journey thus far has given us the strength to say goodbye to fellow classmates, family and community. We are the youth of today, and must learn to be independent, self reliant, and confident ... to become the adults of tomorrow.
And so, tonight, we say our good-byes to our families, friends, teachers and fellow graduates. We would like to offer our sincere congratulations to our fellow graduates and would like to offer these words of advice:
- Don't ever forget that you are unique.
- Be your best self, and not an imitation of someone else.
- Find your strengths and use them in a positive way. Don't listen to those who ridicule the choices you make.
- Travel the road you have chosen and don't look back with regret. You have to take chances to make your dreams happen.
Remember that there is plenty of time to travel another road — and still another — in your journey through life. Take the route that is right for you.
- You will learn something valuable from every trip you take, so don't be afraid to make mistakes. Tell yourself that you're okay just the way you are.
- Make friends who respect your true self. Take the time to be alone, too, so you can know just how terrific your own company can be.
- Remember that being alone doesn't always mean being lonely; it can be a beautiful experience of finding your creativity, your heartfelt feelings, and the calm and quiet peace deep inside you.
Please don't ever forget that you are special.
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