Valedictory Speech 2007

As our theme song states, Theres a reason we are here. Tonight, we gather together as one graduating class, one school community, to celebrate a journey. Good evening teachers, parents, special guests and fellow graduates. This journey began just over a decade ago. As I look around tonight at all the graduates, I am flooded with memories. Of course, the first that comes to mind is a reflection to 12 years ago where our school experiences began. Each one of us undoubtedly remembers that first day of school. While we all did not attend the same elementary school, I am sure that our individual experiences on that particular day were quite unique and resemble similar feelings of anticipation and anxiety. Who walked who to the bus stop, who walked who to the school doors that day? Looking back, we know now that there were indeed mutual feelings of not wanting to let go. Our parents came to help us carry our lunch boxes, our school bags and to let us go from the security of home into this new setting, this new world that they knew would be a challenge for us, as it would be for them. Once the bell rang and the journey began, there was wonder about this new place that would become like a second home for us.

When we walked through the school doors, we all saw many new faces. In fact, I believe what got us through those first days were those new faces- our peers, our acquaintances and our potential friends who were right there beside us, feeling and experiencing the same changes that we were feeling.

Tonight, we sit here as the Crescent Collegiate graduating class of 2007; a group of determined and devoted students ready to encounter another new world, with many new faces. As we look around, we do not see the little girls and little boys that mom and dad watched leave home for the first time, but rather the energetic young adults that we have grown to be. We are all here because we have a reason to dress in the spirit of celebration, both individually and as a

class; a night like this that I believe, truly comes but once in lifetime marks the culmination of our school accomplishments.

Several years ago, as either pre or early teens, we moved from our respective elementary schools and converged at Crescent Collegiate. Since then, there have been many memories, far too many to get into specifics, but, when we leave here, we will hold on to many sentimental times- those Friday night hockey games, the school trips to St. Pierre, or to Quebec or to Europe; the theme days, the school spirit activities, the dances, and of course, most importantly, the friends that we made along the way. Throughout our junior high and high school years at Crescent, we have become even closer to the friends we already had, and we have made some fantastic new ones that we know will bridge the future to life long friendships.

Amidst the experience of our school years there have been teachers all of whom have given to our success; there are those who for each of us, have prompted us forward and have been a special inspiration. Whatever the experience might be, we could have never gotten here today without the help and support of our families, our peers, and our teachers and the other support staff around the school who really make a difference.

Now that we look back at these precious years, we realize that we have really learned so much more than just information from textbooks. This journey had taught us about life. We have had many lessons taught to us, for which we have to thank many people. We have learned about ourselves, our interests, our talents and we have made informed decisions about our future endeavours. I believe the most important thing that we have all learned at this point is that even though we are here to represent our school community as its graduating class, we are all individuals. We are all different and special for our own reasons. We have learned that we have to be ourselves and follow our own paths. We will never please everyone, so we must engage our futures keeping our own

happiness in mind. If we all know this, believe it and live it, we will all accomplish something very special.

A line in our theme song reads, These are the days worth Living. These are surely the days that we will never forget. We will carry the memories of this challenging journey with us for the rest of our lives. While I am so honoured to be your valedictorian, I am even more honoured to be graduating with such an admirable group of people; a group who exerts enormous amounts of potential and ambition, giving us all the opportunity to be whatever we want to be. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Tonight, we celebrate our graduation- an achievement that reflects dedication, devotion and perseverance that will aid in someday making our beautiful dreams a reality.

In conclusion, I feel that we must remember that our school years have helped us build character and a sense of who we are. Each one of us possesses the ability to achieve success in the future. We must try our best and never settle for anything less, because soon we will be faced with many new challenges, as we embark upon a new journey. But for now, our reason to be here is to celebrate, so lets live the moment. Graduates of the class of 2007, heres to the memories of the past and the prospects of a bright future. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for this touching opportunity. Truly, it means the world to me. Heres to us. This is our night. Congratulations!

-Megan Hudson*