Congratulations! You are all embarking on your next chapters in life. After 12 years of learning how to count out our ABC's to learning how to write in MLA format, we have all thrown our caps in the air and are enjoying our last bits of summer at home. For most of you, you are heading off to a college or university to pursue a career or are taking time to find yourself without education. Whichever path you plan on taking, this is a turning point for all of us that can be scary, exciting, and enlightening. So to all of my fellow classmates and friends who are leaving to go on to their own paths a few weeks before me, I would like to say a few words.

First, I would like to say thank you. Without all of you, I wouldn't be where I am today, and I'm sure you wouldn't be in the same position without your fellow peers either. Each person that comes across us in our lives affects us in some way; they can make our lives better or worse. We learn from the people that have made us go through difficult times; it helps us to grow the perseverance and grit within us. We gain from the people that have made us have made us see the world better, differently, and more fully; it helps us to realize how valuable time is and how you should spend it with the people that make it worth while. To everyone that has come across my life so far, you’ve helped me grow as a person and see the world in a different, but better light; some of you maybe did both. For that, I thank you.

Now, some of you may look back at high school or the last 12 years of education as a terrible time of puberty and adolescence. Maybe it wasn’t your “time to shine”; I think we’ve all felt that one time or another. Regardless, I believe this was essential for us. We have been in a bubble since we were children. The peers, family members, and environment we have grown up with and learned from for years surround this bubble. Even if you have moved around a lot or have had a lot of change in your young adult life, the same ideas about how we need to be the best in what we do and present ourselves in the best way surrounds us in our bubble because that is what society has taught us to learn and believe. This little bubble has protected us or tried in ways to prepare us for what was next. Yes, there were times we all had breaking points, where we couldn’t handle our parents, felt betrayed by our friends, or felt we just weren’t good enough. But with this time in between being kids and being adults, we learn about the world, about people, and about ourselves from what we see in our little bubble. With everyone we meet and what we learn from them and with them, it all prepares us for when we pop our bubble and take our next step out into the world on our own.

In going our own separate ways, it can be frightening not knowing what is ahead. But that’s the beauty of it: we get to plan what is ahead for us, plan our own future. Because of that, we should all be excited. It doesn't matter where you start from now, what matters is what we do from now on. What you will be judged on now is how hard work you to succeed, how strong your wit, willpower, and drive is to accomplish what you set out to do, and how you persevere through obstacles and challenges you will face. Look back at your last 17 or 18 years as a stepping-stone to the path that you will be the rest of your life.

It won’t be an easy road for any of us and it shouldn’t be. It is a time to make mistakes, to get back up, and try something new while truly finding yourself. So to everyone going on their own journeys, thank you for the memories and good luck to wherever life takes you.