2013 Student Graduation Speech
Good morning family, friends, faculty, and fellow graduates.
Well, we did it. We all accomplished one of the major early milestones
of our lives: high school graduation. This is a major step in the journey
of our lives, one that should be recognized for its immense
significance. It is an act not only of personal commitment, but also one
of pride. We all worked hard to get to this day, and our work did not go
to waste. A high school diploma is a wonderful tool in this world, one
that opens many doors of opportunity for anyone who is lucky enough
to have one.
But graduation is not an end goal in itself; it is instead a part of the
larger journey of life. Wherever your future takes you, let it take you
somewhere. Life is a journey, and all accomplishments we achieve
during its course should be taken as starting points for further
achievements. Our graduation should serve as such a launching point,
projecting us to wherever our futures are meant to take us, whether we
land ourselves a career, take up a trade, or continue our education at
college or Vocational/technical School.
But before we can begin to reach for the stars, there is one more
personal milestone that we all need to reach. Most people who
graduate from high school experience only one graduation — that from
high school. But we all have one more shortly ahead of us.
We’ve already shown our commitment to personal growth through
making it to this ceremony today, but soon, all of us will experience
another ceremony when we graduate from our programs. As I said
before, life is a journey — we don’t stop growing once we get our
diplomas. Life is about growing, and being in our programs gives each
of us new opportunities to continue growing and to learn new skills
that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives.
And we don’t have to stop there! This graduation has already shown us
how capable we all are of accomplishing our goals when we commit
ourselves to them. I hope all of us here today can take this personal
accomplishment as an example of how anything is truly possible when
we put our minds to it. As we all continue on in our lives, let us take
each new problem on with confidence, knowing that we have achieved
great heights and are equipped with the necessary tools to tackle our
futures.
The road that lies ahead won’t be easy. There will be obstacles and
missed exits, potholes and roadblocks. There will be times when each
of us will feel like we cannot possibly go on. There will be times when
each of us will think he or she is alone, a back against the wall. But we
are not alone — we are all in this journey together. We’ve made it this
far — why should we back out now? Nothing worthwhile is easy, and
that includes making the most out of our futures. But that doesn’t mean
we give up on ourselves. We will keep pushing, because we know we
can achieve our dreams, and because we are worth it.
From this day forward, let us make each decision with our best
interests in mind. Let us believe in ourselves so that we may reach our
goals and fulfill our dreams. Let us be the best that we can be so that
we may fill our lives and the lives of those closest to us with happiness
and with pride. We’ve already taken the first step by making it to this
ceremony today — now, it’s time to take the next steps in the journey
that is our lives and begin to build our futures.
Congratulations to the class of 2013!
