These last few years have been some of the most fun learning experiences of my life. For this, I would like to commend the teaching staff and growing senior class around me. We may not have grown in numbers; indeed, there have been several occasions where we have counted off more class members having left than those that still remain among us. I believe that we have developed, in many ways, our own culture here that not only fits the society around us, but which the society around us would commend us for. Our sense of humor, our gestures, our conversations, and the unique and amazing way we interact has probably been my favorite part of school, but this doesn’t just include our class, it includes every student and teacher we have shared our time with as well.
We have all grown a part of this somewhat satirical hive mind of great interactions. If, for example, Zach were to say something to the effect of: “Yeah! Class of 2013!” in the middle of my speech, which he won’t, then there are a number of things that I think would probably happen. Mrs. Barber would likely give him a stern look. Sarah would roll her eyes. Raquel would laugh and then look at Ms. Breyer to see her reaction. Jonah would grin for a short moment. Shane would not have recognized what just happened. Katie and Allison would stifle chuckles and then give him a heated look. Jason would put his hand to his face. Ella would probably laugh and try to play it off. Kyndall would give him a stern look based on what Sarah’s look was. The junior class would laugh hysterically under their breath. Finally the parents would likely laugh it off after having seen Zach at so many other ceremonies. This is all just assumption, and should not be taken too seriously. Although, I would wager that since this wasn’t taken out of my speech, it’s probably fairly accurate.
All this makes for a school where everyone feels like they fit in at some point or another; in fact, most people who visit our school already feel like they fit in after their first day. It just shows how much of a caring environment our school and teachers provide.
This, the graduating class of 2013, has been with me and been a part of my life for four years now, and after four years it’s more than clear to me that our capacity to learn and grow will never falter. The methods of learning which have been instilled in us at the our school will always be with us. I know there’s a lot for me to learn in college and in life. While writing this speech, I often wondered, “What should a Salutatorian’s speech sound like anyway? What do most Salutatorians mention in their graduation speeches?” Unfortunately, even with my great relationship with the internet, she chose this time to be of as little help and inspiration as possible. “It just goes to show” is probably one of my least favorite expressions, but I’m going to use it anyways. It just goes to show that no matter how helpful and massively informative the internet can be; it is no match for the inspiration you find in simply being active, calming down and clearing your mind. So I was left with countless lessons and options to choose from. There are so many of these lessons I want to expound upon before most of us go our separate ways and head off to college, but I’ll leave you with this quote by Winston Churchill, “This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Thank you so much.
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