Graduation Speech

 Here's my Graduation Speech:

Decisions. They can be either the simplest or the hardest things to make. I’m sure I am not the only one here who has ever made a difficult decision. I remember not too long ago when I was only in eighth grade that I was faced with one of the most difficult decisions of my life. I had to figure out what was more important to me: my friends or my education, looking back on it I don’t regret a single thing.

That was the year I chose to become a Trailblazer at The Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology. I was terrified of leaving everyone I had known for eight years, especially to go to a new high school. That stepping stone is hard enough as it is going to a normal school, but AACT was different, in a great way.

            By choosing to go to AACT I was able to experience more than just high school, but also real life. Personally, one of these experiences could be how I ended up raising ducks, I don’t know about you, but when I thought of high school all I thought of was lockers and school work, definitely not ducks. I never really thought school could actually be fun, but AACT proved me wrong. I became so involved in everything, both inside and outside of AACT, that school became my life and I loved it.

            Graduating from high school at least to me, is terrifying. AACT has been my home for the past four years and starting today it no longer is. Today I am not only extremely proud of myself for surviving twelve years of school but I am scared, scared of the real world and college. I am sure there are a lot of us that are relieved to be done and can’t wait to get away, but to me my life will never be the same again. Today, I am no longer a kid. Today, I have more responsibilities. Today, I will not see the majority of the people I have grown up with for the past four years until our high school reunion. Today, we are adults.  I hope that most of you feel the same way when I say that I will never regret becoming a Trailblazer.

            Today is the beginning of the rest of our lives and the beginning of a clean slate for all of us. Today marks the first day where we are solely accountable for the decisions that will determine our future. We are all now in charge of our own lives. Will you choose love over your career? Will you follow your dreams or someone else's? Will you go against the grain or succumb to “everybody’s doing it”? These are only a few of the tough decisions we will face. When you think of yourself sixty years from now will you like your life story? In the end we are all a byproduct of our own decisions, you're in the driver’s seat of a short ride so make it a good one.

Congratulations Class of 2014! We did it!