MY GRADUATION SPEECH -JUNE 2004

Ladies and gentleman forgive me but I’ve never been confident when speaking in font of people. And now I volunteered to address my graduation class and all the school and families. So let me welcome you and forgive me if I stutter.

We are gathered here to acknowledge what these students have worked for. Our whole four years have led up to this moment and will be the end of something wonderful and the beginning of something new and unfamiliar.

Take a good look at the students who stand here before you. Everyone one of you out there knows at least one of these students and recognizes them. For their courage in their individual struggle to make their life a success. Each one had their own challenge, each one different from each other. When I was a freshman I could not imagine standing here today before you, facing all of you and conquering one more fear.

At the beginning of my high school education I did not anticipate my freshman year to be such a challenge as to what it was. Boy, if I ever had a challenge that was unthinkable yet worth it, that would be it. Now let me tell you since most people don’t know. Two weeks into freshman year I became deathly ill and spent the entirety of my freshman year in a hospital bed and on dialysis waiting for my kidney transplant. And what do yah know; I’m standing here before you three years after it and doing pretty well. I fell behind in schooling and faced a lot of difficulties getting back into the swing of things. I wasn’t used to high school, but returning as sophomore I still felt like a freshman.

I faced many more challenges than I ever thought, learning to live with what the transplant had left me with.

I came back with much self confidence and didn’t realize the differences between me and the rest of my school mates. Though every else pointed it out, I’m 4 11’ and 17 years old. So continuosulu I got made fun of for being smaller, and having a little bit rounder face. And I thought I looked ugly and I faced the challenge of trying to find the right me and fitting in. then I realized that I didn’t want to fit in and I am BEAUTIFUL!

So I faced the challenge of being a girl with a big heart and much awareness of what life really mean and all I wanted to do was share it with the world.

So as our parents and teachers look at us they will remember how we fell and fell again and still we stand tall!

We stand here having faced so many challenges, though we succeeded. I was optimistic and conquered the unthinkable and did the impossible therefore proving that anything is possible. Many people said I would graduate with the class of 2004, but boy did I prove everyone wrong. I participated in cross country this year and am also become a published poet.

As our parents look and only see, the child we once were. We stand here today as young adults and recognize that we have strength all our own. "History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats. --B. C. Forbes" said. Forbes was right, for each one of us standing here before, have defeated something. And we stand here with a better understanding and knowledge of the world around us, ready to go out into the world and face more challenges. So with that as my conclusion may I present to you the class of 2004!

sadness of nutin more, the purgin pain that keeps me bound here........i cant b uprooted.,.....no knight to rescue me.,.................no one but myself................comin out of my shell slowly by the day..........though wen i come back to my roots i become a little seedling trapped in the weeds unable to rescure myself...........unable to be me ...........as i set fourth on the new journmey to come.................i will hope to b free..........gainin independence of myself. wrapped in the caress so soft though its a soft straggle makin life an unbearable site...........so i bury it deep beneath the soil in the depths of my soul ande contiune on to my happy place..........then wen i return to my chamber rely on the solitude to keep my sane