Good morning families, supporters, and fellow seniors. Let's stop for a moment and pretend we're all in English class, but without the 400 page novel. The standard for today is going to be the past, present, and future tense.
First up, past tense. I want you all to flashback to life before high school. Things were easy, were they not? We couldn't show off our breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Instagram like we can today. Things were simple. First world problems here and there, but we survived. Let's go back a bit further. See this piece of paper. This is what we are like when we are born. A blank, smooth, and clean slate. Now, fast forward a few years. We enter high school.
Suddenly, assignments pile and continue to pile. Friendships, if we're lucky, continue as acquaintances; if we're unlucky, become broken. Some days, we compare ourselves to what you see now. Our lives start to feel all crumpled up. But to make it through another day, what do we do? We smooth out the edges, and we carry on.
We argue with our parents. We think we're right. We're never right. We meet a boy, or a girl. We think we understand that four letter word, "love." We don't understand. Unless you've successfully found your high school sweetheart, then good for you!
But for the rest of us, we cry. We post depressing statuses on Facebook about being "hash tag forever alone." Some days, we want to rip our hearts out. Like this. But to make it through another day, what do we do? We hold the pieces together, and we carry on.
Fast forward to right now. Welcome to the present. We are here together. After four years. Goodness knows what we can do in one night. Especially the night before finals, the night before that five-page essay is due, the night the word "sleep" becomes non-existent. Or the night you just can't log off League of Legends. So think about it. If that's what we can do in one night, what have we accomplished over this span of four years? Let me answer my own question in two words. A lot.
High school has not only taught us how to solve for "x" or what went on in Shakespeare's mind, but it has also taught us how to do the impossible. We have learned how to procrastinate effectively. We have pulled all-nighters and lived to tell of it. We have asked a crush to prom even though fear of rejection made our knees quiver and the actuality of rejection meant social suicide. Oh, and we survived the end of the world in 2012.
And now we're coming towards the end of this chapter in our lives. Every wrinkle, every edge, every wear and tear on this sheet of paper. They are stories. Lessons. Mistakes. But we have a choice. A choice to continue to look like this, or a choice to do something about it. To put all the pieces back together, into something like this. This is what we can grow to be. This is what we have grown to be. This is what matters.
We are reaching into a new world. Let's refer to this new world as the "future." To make it through another day, what must we do? We must fight. Let me share a quick story. I watched my grandpa fight cancer for a year. Just last month, he lost that fight. I began to question the purpose of fighting my fears, fighting through my struggles, and fighting for what I want.
Have you ever had days where you felt like flying? Perhaps you aced a test. Your crush said yes to your prom proposal. Your parents bought you a new car. But have you ever had days where you felt like falling? You failed a test. You ended a relationship. You disappointed your parents. Sometimes, all the above in one day. Welcome to the life of this paper airplane. It can fly in some moments. But what do we do when it falls? We pick it up, throw it out there, and put it back in the air. That's what we are going to do with our lives.
When we fall, we are going to pick ourselves up. Push ourselves. And carry on. In doing this, we will become better students. Better friends. Better sons and daughters. Better people. And Grandpa, wherever you are, I will become that better person for you.
We have changed, and we will continue to change. But we are not the only ones changing. The world around us is changing. We can talk to our smartphones. Cars are running on electricity. We have laptops that are thinner than my English notebook. We are all moving forward, and life after high school, is just the next big step.
So that wraps up today's lesson on past, present, and future tense. Don't worry, there will be no test tomorrow, or ever again. Just kidding, we'll see tests again in college and in life, but that's another problem for another day. So, to accomplish the goal of today's lesson, remember the words of Albus Dumbledore: "It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be." Class is dismissed.
