Graduation Speech. 2021 Senior Class. PDF

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This is a speech that we were required to do for my English Class. It is probably not going to be very helpful since it is the rough draft....

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Cassie Campbell

Senior Speech My fellow 2021 graduates, I sit before you today to celebrate the beginning of an end; the end of a beginning. Just four years ago, we (well… most of us) came to the dim realization that High School is nothing like High School Musical. Four years later and still waiting to hear the entire cafeteria break out into synchronous dance moves out of nowhere singing together in perfect harmony... But in the meantime, I thought I would impart the (very few) limited pieces of wisdom I’ve managed to acquire over the past couple years.

Stop Procrastinating. Or at least, try. You will still get a participation award at the finish line. Everybody procrastinates, but not everyone is a procrastinator. Me? A master procrastinator. A professional, one could say. No kidding, I waited until yesterday to start writing this speech. The biggest lie I have ever told myself is, ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’. As Christopher Parker once said, “Procrastination is like a credit card. It’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.” When we get older, the consequences of procrastination are far greater than merely a bad grade on a test or a missed homework assignment. In the real world, chronic procrastinating could cost you your wellbeing. Don’t be the person who wasted 20 years of their lives doing a job they hate but wake up too late in the game, left with utter regret about not choosing the path they wanted to follow in their prime.

Time is Valuable. This brings us to our next point, time. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Five seconds to you may just seem like an insignificant Time is the only concept in the universe, that once it's gone, it’s

impossible to reacquire (you may disregard this advice if you are in possession of a time machine). Every morning when you wake up (or hit snooze for the tenth time like me) you are living minutes you will never get back. That’s a penny for a thought. Thanks to time, everything is constantly changing. You are always one step closer to your final step. One breath closer to your final gasp. One decision closer to your final choice. Ask yourself this, if you had a timer that could count down your remaining lifespan to the second, would you value seconds more? Would you be willing to take more risks? Would you be more forgiving? A man by the name of Arnold Altshuler said it best, “The bad news is, time flies. The good news is, you’re the pilot.” Instead of dwelling on the past or worrying about what could happen, try to center yourself in the present and enjoy life while it's here, because you never know when your clock is gonna tick its last tock.

Rely on others. The education system in America has utterly failed in giving its students a “101 Crash Course in Adulting.” But, according to my ninth grade teacher, if you know the pythagorean theorem by heart and that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, you will go far in life. My future is banking on this. Being a legal adult didn’t hit me until I went to the doctor’s office for the first time alone a few weeks ago. After calling my mom frantically four times in one sitting for questions I thought I had no idea how to answer (one being my date of birth), I realized adulting isn’t for everyone.

When faced with a fear, you have two options: Forget Everything and Run, or Face Everything and Rise. It’s up to you to decide. As we try to navigate our way through unknown territory for the first time without a guide, we may find ourselves with varying degrees of fear and

apprehension. Don’t let fear hold you back, use it to push you forward. Many see “adrenaline junkies” as fearlessly brave people. But in reality, you get the adrenaline rush when you are slightly scared. Getting past that initial fear is the most euphoric feeling in the world and I encourage each and every one of you to experience it.

Don’t let your fears stop you from achieving your dreams; don’t put off to the future what you can do now, and remember to live in the moment, because time stops for no one. As my idol, Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it.”...