Frankie Krawczyk

ERWC

Ms. Petrucci

February 6th, 2023

Graduation Speech

When tasked with writing a graduation speech, my immediate thought was “how do you

start something like this?” I wish I could say that I got to know each person and see how they

grew, but unfortunately there are way too many people in this graduating class and my social

battery would not be able to keep up. What I can say is, today is the day that we all let go of our

training wheels and start the journey to become who we are meant to be. Now, I can’t speak for

us all but I can tell you that while I am petrified of the future, yet I am optimistic and hopeful

that we all get to become what we want to be. Looking back on my freshman year of high

school, I can remember being nervous about walking onto campus- I felt very out of place and

small. Walking into school on my first day of senior year, I felt out of place and almost

reminiscent of what once was and how things will soon be changing.

Do we all remember when we were in middle school and our parents/ guardians would

say “you will change friends multiple times during your high school years?” Yeah I thought they

were full of it- but in turn they were right, like they are most of the time. It is seldom to think that

some of you here I knew greatly and learned to see as a peer instead of a friend. But I know that

we have each grown into incredible people and learned from each other. I will always cherish the

moments we had and the moments I wish we had. But I know that you all are going to flourish in

any endeavour you wish to take on. Some of you may not feel the same as I do about the people

you once knew, and that is more than okay. Just remember who you’ve become because of them
and that change. Maybe it is just my reflective ways of talking here, but I’m grateful for them.

Even if it sucked in the moment- I am ultimately so grateful for the person I am now. We may

not talk and we may not smile at each other when we walk past- but I am proud of you. I am

proud of us.

It is interesting to think about how many times I would harp on Great Oak for making me

work hard- and I am very indebted to you for helping me get here. Many many times I have

wanted to give up and just not do a single thing. Many nights of my dad helping me with maths

and that resulted in me crying. Did I hate it? Very much so. Did I learn something? Of course I

did. I learned that I can successfully do maths while crying. Also that maths is inevitable and you

cannot avoid it even if you try. All of the times I said “C’s get degrees” while crying inside that

getting anything better is way harder than I thought it would be. Geometry will be the bane of

my whole high school career. But I think we can all come to appreciate the quality of the

teachings that Great Oak has offered us. A vast majority of my opportunities came from this

place and I have never appreciated something more. We were always told to get involved, that it

didn’t matter what it was- just get into something. Well I did and I know a lot of us did. Between

theatre and volleyball, I was extremely involved no matter what it was. I never thought I would

be accepted into the University of Michigan for Directing- but here we are and that is all because

I decided to get involved.

No matter how much you don’t like this place and cannot wait to better yourself and

future, recount the times you said that you “couldn’t do it” and look at where you are seated right

now. All of us have been through and seen different things, but we all did it. We did it. YOU did

it! I'm proud of each and every one of us, including our teachers for dealing with all of us. I
promise the corny speech is almost over but our stories aren't. I wish you all the most luck on all

of your future endeavours! Congratulations everyone, go wolfpack 2023!