This speech is the graduation speech I wrote for a school audition. I did not get the position but thought I would share my final message to the Class of 2017 so that it would never be forgotten.
Our Rio Americano Novel: Class of 2017
Before I begin, I'd like to dedicate this speech to the following people. To the friends and family who were there for us when we needed them. You never left us as we blossomed into the young adults we are today. To the teachers of Rio who put in countless time and effort to make us better, no matter how much time and effort we gave back. To the counselors who guided us to the right classes and listened to our problems. To the campus hall monitors who kept us safe and to the custodial staff who kept Rio beautiful. Lastly, to my fellow classmates who will forever be part of this story. Thank you for being here with me on this joyous day.
Back in sixth grade, I began writing my first novel. My first draft was about a teenager named Katherine Pollard and how she tried to fit in at high school. At that time, not many people knew I enjoyed writing and many still don't, but here I am telling all of you about it. Six years ago when I began writing, I had barely tasted middle school, but I dreamed of high school in general and Rio in particular. My protagonist was friends with many different social groups and she made her high school experience hers. Little did I know that it would truly reflect high school life.
Writer Victoria Erickson said this, “Remember that you’re a living, breathing novel, literally writing your own story. Your very own authentically personal piece of art. It’s pretty glorious.” So you may now be asking yourself what is our part of Rio’s novel? As freshmen, our high school story began before we even arrived. We were worried that we would be canned by the seniors, drown in homework, and never be able to make the five minute passing period to a class across campus. We were anxious about being in the proper place in the social order, of 1300 other students. The core classes of English, Math, PE, and Science were familiar to our freshman brains, but taking a language or two band classes at once, was unfamiliar. Freshman year, we felt that Rio’s history had already been written as it celebrated its 50th birthday. As Raiders, we learned that Rio had much to offer and began to write our own chapter. We made friends, some across multiple groups, others within a single group, and some just with a particular individual. Amongst our own friends, we wrote our own narratives and we were written into those of our friends. Stories were passed along of the two times the vice principals were seen apart because everyone knew they were inseparable. Our stories will likely re-spark laughter in years to come, like the time a swim meet was canceled because of poop in the pool as well as the time the trash can where the poop was put was subsequently dumped back into the pool. As freshmen, we began creating and editing the character of who we wanted to be. With our stories, memories, and personalities, we were going to be somebody in the middle of something.
Our novel resumes sophomore year. Adding many more plot points along the rising action. The stories we will tell our children may include: the time where the fire alarm went off because of microwave popcorn or in chemistry with Mr. Grupp when we made rocket candy from the movie October Sky. These high school stories portray a happy reflection of our life at Rio, but death is also a part of this story. The Raider community lost one of our staff named Mr. Hodgins. At his candlelight vigil, stories from the Raider community remember Mr. Hodgins for his humor, passion, dedication to the school, and his acceptance of students without discrimination. He supported his students in expressing themselves. His embodiment of the Raider pride has been missed since his passing. Au revoir Monsieur. Although we were already settled in, school, homework, friends, popularity, and emotions made the classic high school novel more authentic. By the end of sophomore year, some of us had drafted our identities several times over, but all of us had a solid two chapters of our high school experience on the page.
By junior year, our plot continues with hours studying for the SAT and ACT and doing the nightly homework for AP and Honors classes. Second semester, the hours preparing and writing for the dreaded JRP made the workload even more intense. With college around the corner, junior year was not the time to procrastinate. Other details got woven into the narrative like: the extreme number of times that Mr. Miller brought up conservative subjects or the 180 videos watched in Ms. Dibble’s AP Environmental Science class or the fetal pig dissection in AP Biology. With the rising action of junior prom and the successful wins against El Camino, we believed senior year would be amazing. Poet, Maya Angelou once said, “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, some style.” With passion, compassion, humor, and style we were rolling into senior year and thriving.
Senior year has its own memories. This chapter included senior sunrise, 2017 GALA fight, senior ball, and senior sunset. Those who were part of the football team will tell stories of going 5-5. This was the best record since 2008. We will tell stories of the annual charity Hoops for Hope game. We will re-watch videos of the AM Jazz Ensemble performing as the opening act for Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at the Mondavi Center. These details will all be part of our history at Rio. But, it is now up to you to write the final chapter of your very own high school novel. It is also time to decide if you need to rewrite your own character again or if you would like to keep it the same. We may think we have reached the climax of our lives but we haven’t. We are far from it. Remember that the little things won’t matter once we go out on our own, but the friends and memories we made will. We all came to Rio to achieve different dreams and write our own chapter in Rio’s book. Some of us came to Rio to be part of a swinging world renowned jazz band while others came to be part of Civitas- Rio’s unique political and social science program. Others of us came because we were predesignated by the school district to attend Rio due to where we lived. No matter the reason we came, we will remember the community service and other things we did to make the campus a better place. Our novel began freshman year, absorbing Raider pride at Camp Rio before we even knew what it was like to be in high school. Our novel continued through the ups and downs of high school, and our Raider pride never left us. We are the Rio Americano Raiders Class of 2017.
Today may mark the sunset of high school but as Dr. Seuss says, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...” Since sixth grade, I have edited, rewritten, and scrapped parts of my first novel at least seven times. As an author, it was relatively easy to make these changes, but in real life, it is a lot harder. I am the author of my own life and you are the author of yours. Thanks to memories, what happened will never go away. This is not the end of our story, but rather the beginning of the next exciting chapter in our lives.
Thank you.
