Ray Chou 2006 graduation

Speech for the 2006 Arcadia High School baccalaureate
As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
Come whatever
We will still be
Friends forever

Before we graduate this Friday, I guarantee you all that we will hear that garbage which barely passes for a song at least three more times. It's genius. Take a second rate band and immortalize them by creating the de facto anthem of an event celebrated annually by millions of high school seniors, parents, and teachers.

But as a high school senior myself I'm compelled to accept-- nay—cherish that awful song and what it represents.

And why not? It does, after all, describe an event that represents the culmination of the past thirteen years, seventy two percent of my, no, our lives.

This event is supposed to be filled with sadness, and it is. Sadness at the thought of departing friends, changed lives, and growing up. Goodbye Ms. Uranga. Goodbye Ms. Rapkin. Goodbye Mr. Vanassadal. Goodbye John Tipton. Goodbye teachers and administrators who have helped shaped me for the past four years into the person I am today.




This event is also supposed to be filled with happiness. We made it. We traversed the difficult classes, survived senioritis, and endured the wrath of college rejection season and came out on top. For most of us this is the single greatest accomplishment of our eighteen year old lives. Celebrate that.

We are the few, the proud, the special. But we're really not.

Class of 2006. What dignifies us from the Class of 2005, 2002, 1999 or even 1965? What sets us apart? Is it our academic affluence, the number of national merit scholars among us? Is it our ninety something percent graduation rate? Is it the success of our athletic teams? The strength of our academic ones? What's the right answer? What makes us special?

Nothing.




Nothing makes us special.

Like it or not, the sense of superiority and accomplishment all of us seemed to inherited is inherently flawed. There have been high school seniors in the past, and there will be high school seniors in the future.

What defines us is not if or when we accomplish the task, but what we do with the knowledge gained. So far our entire lives have been dedicated to getting to five days from now. What then? What will we do?

Class of 2006, do not settle.

We are ill suited for mediocrity. Make a difference, define who you, who we are. Our world is now our classroom, our peers the teachers. Challenge yourself with the same challenge Mr. Plourde gave to us the beginning of our freshman year. Leave this world a better place than when you found it. Strive for the best, 2006. The future is waiting for you, Tabula Rasa; a blank slate. Let the days to come define your greatness and your resolve.

The gift of High School is that of bountiful youth. We feel ready, we're confident, and nothing surprises us. The question is, can we use this gift to make a better future? Can we use that gift to show the world that we can make a difference?

The answer is yes. Yes, we can.

We can show the world that our successes are not just limited to the academic classroom, but the broader world as a whole. We can show the world our unique ethnic diversity is part of what strengthens, not weakens us. We can smash the glass ceiling. We can show the world that, AND I AM SO SORRY FOR THIS BUT YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING, we are simply the best and getting better.

I had to do it. I had to. Y'know that phrase has been repeated so many times while we've been here that it's practically ingrained into our heads. The truth is as I look around right now, I'm hard pressed to disagree. When I look around I don't see soon-to-be high school graduates. I see future lawyers, doctors, politicians, filmmakers, revolutionaries. I see potential. I see the future. I see hope. Don't let me, us, down.




I leave you today with a quote; the first one written in my senior class yearbook:




"Those who dream with their eyes wide open are dangerous men, for they can make the world in their own two hands." Thank you all and God bless.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Next
• Generation

[connecticutie]

rayzilla rules!!!

[chungt]

that was damn decent.