Chloe Lane - Class Valedictorian
Thank you for your patience with me these past few years. I know that I may
have not had any trouble with my school work, but I've had other challenges. I
couldn't have gotten
through it all without the support of the Salem High staff, and my friends.
There were times over the last three years where I wanted to runaway. Life
just seemed to hard, and I know that I wasn't the only one. Now I see that
every difficult experience contributed to a greater
understanding of who I am as a person, and where I want to go from here.
That's what today is all about, commencement. Leaving one phase of our lives
and moving into another. And even if we know where we're going to
going to college or were we are working next year. The future is still
unknown, and that can be scary.
Some of us will be leaving Salem which means leaving our friends and
families behind. And even those of us who chose close to
home will soon realize that the world looks very different.
We won't be coming into Salem high everyday, and getting books our of our lockers,
making fun of the
the cafeteria food, or complaining about having too much homework.
We move into a world that is new and unfamiliar. The next time we see some of our
fellow students
may be at a high school reunion, where according to statistics a few
of us may be bald, and some may have gained a few
pounds. Some classmates may come back famous, or infamous. And some may leave this
earth
before their time. But all of that is unknown today,
and that is the way it should be. We move forward
not knowing what lies ahead. And yet we must seize the day. We must move into the
future with courage and determination to make our mark. To quote one of my
favorite poems, "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may" In other words, this is
our moment, lets take it. Don't let anything stand
in your way. Lets make the most of the time we have
before it gets taken away.
Jen Horton - Guest Speaker
First thing I want to say is that every graduate in this auditorium is so
far ahead of where I was at
their age. Seriously, it's true. I, I really struggled through high school and ended
up right there in summer school, isn't that right Gran?
But the thing is I never got to wear a cap and a gown and to have a really cool
ceremony like this. So I know all of you,
you know you may feel really silly that your
dressed like this, but you have to remember
though that this is all part of the
tradition. It is a symbol
of everything you have accomplished over the past four years.
All of the hard work tat has got you to this moment, this moment where you start
thinking
about your future. And I know how much that would have frightened me when
I was your age. But the thing is, you kids,
you have so much more pressure than my generation did. You have
pressure to have fabulous jobs, make piles of money, have a huge house,
a fancy car. And you know all of that is really fine, but
The one thing I want you to remember is that you must always
love each other and look out for each other. I know each of you had
to complete a unit of community service in order to graduate.
And I just hope that that experience was satisfying enough that you will want to
continue
helping others.
So that each of you go out in the world hoping to make it, I want to
encourage you help. And I'm not talking about donating millions of dollars.
But if you have millions of dollars by all means, donate some of it.
I believe that there are little things you can do every day. You can work at a food
pantry,
you can join the PTA, the local school board,
baby sit your neighbor's kids, go grocery shopping
for an elderly friend. I want you to know how important family is to me, and I
encourage all
of you to create a family in whatever way you define that, because I promise you that
there is no greater
joy than to love and take care of the people in your family. And for some
of us that means having children and grandchildren, but I believe that everyone you
touch in life becomes part of your family,
even if it is only for a moment. And I really believe that every single day
you have the opportunity to change a person's life. So right now I would like all of
us to take a moment of silence to honor the people
we love, and for those who can't be here with us right now. Thank you. Now I have
been told a commencement speech is not
complete without a quotation. Ralph Waldo Emerson may have been born in another
century, but I believe that his words
are timeless and timely for us here today. "What lies behind us, and what lies before
us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Thank you.