Eric Graduation Speech

Here's Eric's Valedictorian speech at Ohlone College, Class of 2009. Click "More info" for full text of speech.

SPEECH:
Good evening.

Tonight, Id like to talk with you about—stairs.

When I first came to Ohlone, four years ago, it wasnt hard to identify the enemy. The stairs were troublesome, omnipresent and unavoidable, irritating obstacles that seemed to present themselves in the way of almost any desired destination. They were the bane of my belated races to morning class, they were my adversaries between classes, they sped the passage of time when I needed it least. In short, they were stubborn impediments that had no function but to be overcome, and once overcome, only then could I reap the fruits of my efforts.

But as time went on, and the Hill showed no signs of flattening, I began to consider that maybe I had been thinking about the stairs all wrong. Sure, they were steps that were necessary to negotiate in order to reach an end result, but did that mean that the end result was the only payoff? Sure, they required effort to climb, but why shouldnt that effort have a use? Why not embrace the challenge, and take the stairs two at a time?

Too often, in school and in life, we view the stairs in our lives with the same wrongheaded thinking that grips us when we see a tall stairway. We look at the stairway stretching before us—two years of undergraduate study, maybe a Masters, then a career, with all the rungs on the corporate ladder that go with it—and its easy to get discouraged. Its easy to fall into the trap of fixating on the destination, of keeping your eyes on the prize, on the money and the house and the cars we hope to own one day, and never really noticing the ground beneath your feet.

The saying, its the journey, not the destination, is cliché, but, like most clichés, its true. As community college graduates, taking the first steps up the stairway that is the rest of our lives, we are embarking on a rich and incredible journey. Education has rendered, and will continue to render, the possibilities limitless, so why fixate on a destination? Every step we take unfolds new opportunities, new possibilities, new challenges but also new rewards. So why not savor and celebrate every step?

Tonight is that celebration. Tonight is the reminder that the reward weve been waiting for isnt somewhere in the future—its here and its now. I wouldnt be standing before you tonight if I didnt think that this step, and every step that comes after it, is worth celebrating.

So tonight, forget about Building 1 at the top of the stairs. Stop worrying about the destination. Tonight, its time to celebrate the step we stand on and achievements weve accomplished, and look forward with enthusiasm to the world of opportunities our next step, whatever it might be, promises.

Thank you, and congratulations to the graduating class of 2009!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Eric
• Dorman
• Ohlone
• Valedictorian
• Graduation
• 2009

[cherry44]

god bless