A Kind Goodbye

To Dr. Baker, members of the Board of Trustees, Mrs. Mathews, administrators, faculty and staff, parents, friends, and, especially, the graduating class of 1999. The day that we all have been waiting for, graduates, parents, and teachers, is finally here: graduation day. We have worked hard to get to this day, to this point in our lives. This is the turning point, the watershed, if you will, of our lives. This day marks the end of one era and the beginning of a better and brighter one. This day is the end of one road and the start of another.

During my preparation for my speech, I came across this poem written by Mark Twain:

Good-bye! a kind good-bye,

I bid you now, my friend,

And though 'tis sad to speak the word,

To destiny I bend

And though it be decreed by Fate

That we ne'er meet again,

Your image, graven on my heart,

Forever shall remain.

Aye, in my heart thoult have a place,

Among the friends held dear,-

Nor shall the hand of Time efface

The memories written there.

Goodbye,

S.L.C.

His words reflect the sentiments that we are all feeling now on this graduation day. In one of my classes, we were discussing the arrival of graduation. Most students said that they would cry and be sad about leaving high school behind. At that time, I was not sad and was happily counting down the days until graduation. Then, we received our yearbooks. After reading the lines written by the people with whom I have spent most of my life, I realized that I would probably never see them again, at least not as we are now. Even though I have worked hard to get out of school and was ready to leave, I realized then that I will be sad when this chapter of my life ends; it will never be able to be written upon again.

We all hear the horror stories of high school; the long hours of homework after the school day has ended, the countless number of assignments, and the three or four tests in one day. All students count down the years, months, and finally the days until they have reached their graduation day. This year, especially, has been one in which students have been anxiously and eagerly awaiting graduation, for one reason or another. To those students that did not reach those personal goals that they had set for themselves; in the words of poet Ralph Vaull Starr, I have this to say to you, "Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal." You should never give up, keep dreaming for great things, and they will come to you. Remember that you have your entire lives in which to become whatever you wish.

After tonight, we will be finally a part of that fabled "real world" that we have been being prepared for most of our lives. There will be no more coddling or handholding; we will be on our own, shaping our own destinies. Teachers and administrators will no longer tell us how and when to do things; we will be left to figure them out for ourselves. We will be an integral part of the real world.

It is very important that I acknowledge those that have helped me get this far. To my parents and family, I thank you for always believing in me when the last thing I wanted to do was believe in myself. Thank you for pushing me so that I could go places I never thought that I would able to reach. Thank you to my teachers and guidance counselor for always believing in me. I would especially like to thank my friends for offering me the competition, as well as the encouragement that always kept me on my toes. Without all of you, I do not know how I would have made it this far.

Graduates of the class of 1999, look to the future and let its promise sustain you. We are on our own now, graduates, and this road may not be an easy one. Remember, graduates, that each of us is special and that we have the internal power to succeed in whatever we want to and accomplish whatever goals we set. We have finally made it! Today we stand on the brink of looking ahead to our future. Lyndon B. Johnson once said, "Tomorrow is ours to win or lose", we should try to win tomorrow, and make it the best tomorrow it can be. Congratulations and good luck, Class of 1999!

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