When I pictured giving a speech at my high school graduation, this isn’t exactly what came to mind. I imagined standing up on stage in front of all of my classmates and their families, shaking, barely being able to get the words out.
But since I’m giving this speech to my parents, my brother, and my sister I think I’ll be alright. Obviously, this isn’t how we wanted our time at SJO to end. We all wanted to spend these last couple months as a spartan, together, for the last time.
And although our senior year was cut short, I would say that the rest of our time at SJO was a high school experience that we will never forget. We made so many accomplishments and achieved so many goals. And today (and yesterday and the day before for some of you) is the beginning of the rest of our lives.
Life is going to present many obstacles in the future. But we’ve faced so many obstacles in our lives already. These past two months have been difficult and they definitely have not been the ideal way to end thirteen years of education in our hometowns. But we have to look at the positives of what this time is going to bring us. When we get back together for our reunions, they’re going to be that much more special because of what we faced while we were in high school.
Seeing each other is going to feel that much better because of the time we didn’t get to have with each at the end of our high school career. And when someone asks each of us what year we graduated high school, we’re going to tell them 2020 and that will always be something to talk about. The class of 2020 has always been unique to me and to our school.
But now we’re unique to the world and I think that’s something to look at as a positive. So although we didn’t get to graduate side by side in a sweaty gym, we’ll always have the memories from this trying time and before.
Once a spartan, always a spartan.
Watch the graduation video here.
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