Dear students of Croatan High school, class of 2015, I am flattered that I was asked to give a speech on this very important day, though I am also a bit taken aback do to the fact that, well there is nothing special about me, I am not the smartest kid in our class...far from it actually. I am not the class president, or the Vice President, or even a representative, but it doesn't matter because I was asked to give a speech so here I am. I think that everyone has a different outlook on their high school experience, and no four years can be summed up in an extended paragraph, but I will do my best. High school is a disaster. It is full of hard classes, bad relationships, judgments being thrown left and right, fake friends, rude teachers, and hard coaches. High school is by no means a walk in the park, it is hard. But this is not all that you can take from being in high school, because yes it is not easy but it is also full of great experiences, and lessons that you will take into your future life. Though high school is tough it is also amazing, you just have to look at it from a different perspective. High school is full of those horrible things but also full of, great teachers that you will never forget, people that have taught you lessons that will never leave you, and bad decisions that have taught you how to make the right ones. You will have countless relationships and friendships that fail, but you will also have a very few that you carry out into your future. The friends that have stuck with you through your worst times and laughed your way through the good ones. High school is finding out who you are and who you want to become, and I think that is what is so scary about the concept of high school, no one ever wants to grow up and actually start their life, and high school is the basis of all of that. It prepares you for college, and what is outside of being watched over of and cared for by your family. It teaches you how to deal with all sorts of different situations and it also teaches you how to heal from all of the bad ones, how to move on and let go of all of the people that have done you wrong, and all of the situations that didn’t turn out the way that you expected. So I will close out with this, high school is crazy. It is Intense, scary, and basically a roller coaster of emotions. But high school is also amazing, exciting, wonderful, and FAST. I wish that I would have paid more attention to all of the good things that came out of high school at the time, instead of hanging on to the bad ones. High school goes by in the blink of an eye, and now that it is over it is time for us to grow up. We are no longer just teenagers but we are adults, it’s time to take care of ourselves, no longer rely on mom and dad, and begin life as your own independent person.
By Taj Petrilli