Senior Commencement Speech!

Hey guys,
So I submitted a senior commencement speech! I figured for someone who loves writing so much, I might as well go for it. Carefully choosing words, and composing draft after draft was tough, but it was a great experience. If you're a senior, we're voting next week in advisory. I'd love your vote! :)

Here it is:

Thirteen. We’ve spent thirteen years in school. Five days a week, nine months a year, we have had a place to go, a place to learn, a place to grow. For thirteen years we have been dreaming of what this day would be like. We imagined how we would feel when we heard our names called. We wondered who would be the kid to trip in front of thousands. We dreaded the waiting as we listened to every last name in our class to be read. But what we might not have realized is that it would give us time reminisce over the time we spent at Wayzata.

Four. Four years we spent at the high school. We attended dances, we cheered on the sports teams, and some of us even tried out a club or two. High school is a confusing time for everyone. You’re figuring out who you are and where you belong and what you’re supposed to be doing. But I’ll let you in on a little secret: you never actually figure it out. And maybe you’re not supposed to. In high school, few will figure out who they are, some will think they figure out who they are, but most will have no idea the entire time.

As exciting as this day is, we could probably all agree that the real topic on everyone’s mind is where we’re going to be after this day. In a few months we will all be in different places. Some of us are staying close to home; some of us are stretching our wings just far enough and wandering over to Wisconsin or one of our other neighboring states. Others of us are running as far as we can with our freedom, and venturing out of frosty weather and unpredictable seasons. Some of the bravest among of us are enlisting in the armed forces. It’s a crazy time for everyone. One way or another we will be leaving our mark on the world.

 One. If you could only be one thing, what would it be? Now is the time to start deciding what we want to do with our lives and what kind of adults we are going to be. We will delve into college textbooks, hoping to find the answers of what paths we should follow. It’s possible some of us already know. Maybe a military career has always been your dream. Maybe you waddled around with a stethoscope and a prescription pad in your diaper days. Or maybe a passion for prose has recently ignited in you and you are already rampantly composing the next great American novel. Whatever excites you is what you should be doing. In this moment, while we imagine our dreams coming true, we should feel infinite, because our lives are filled with new opportunities.

Infinite. They told us our possibilities are endless. Since kindergarten, our teachers and parents have assured us that “The sky’s the limit” and that we can be whatever we set our minds to. Now is the time to find out if they are right. Can we really make our dreams come true? Will we be a class of future Nobel Prize winners and have shining stars on Broadway? Does the class of 2013 hold the future creator of technology that rivals with Apple?  Maybe one of the members on our Improv Troupe will bring us entertainment every Saturday from the show commonly recognized by three letters: SNL. Live from Minneapolis, it’s your future calling.

And then there were three. Many of us have three months until we enter what most adults refer to as “the real world.” That doesn’t mean in three months we will know exactly what we want to do. It doesn’t even mean we will have an idea. But in three months we will be starting a new chapter of our lives. It’s our time to show what we got out of Wayzata and what we’re going to do to change the world.

Thirteen. Congratulations Class of 2013.We made it.