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Graduation Speech
by Dan Rustine
Mr. Gouge, Miss Dunn, Miss Swatzendruber, Mrs. Jacobs, my classmates, friends and family...
Thank you all for coming. I don’t know many of you, but I’m sure that somebody up here must appreciate your attendance tonight.
When I first entered SCCLC three years ago, one word came to my mind. “Hmm”. Thats because SCCLC is such a unique place. Its students are such a varied collection of people. Well, lets put it more accurately; a collection of odd kids. Aside from occasional learning here and there, my time in SCCLC has been all laughs. I will definitely miss my class, as well as the rest of the student body.
OK, that was just the stuff I had to get over with because this is graduation. And now for the real speech:
Toward the beginning of this school year, I realized something. This is my last year. At that time, I was planning to head to the US for college. So it wasn’t only my last year in high school, but also my last year in Santa Cruz. That’s when I started to think about how valuable my time here was.
When you see you don’t have much time left, you use what time you have more wisely. You see what is really important to you. For me, that has been my friends. I’ve spent more time with them. All the time I can. At times, even doing this to the point of not doing some schoolwork. Apparently the rest of my class has been doing about the same thing, though, or else I wouldn’t be salutatorian.
It all came down to making the best use of my time. Living as if today were the last, because it was coming close to being the last. I dedicated more time to the people that love me. This includes God, family, friends, and even pets. Work and things like that don’t worry you so much. They fall into the background. Its similar to knowing you’re going to die within a month.
This year has been the best year of my life. I’ve done things I’ve never done before, because I knew I wouldn’t have a chance to do them again. I’ve done worthwhile things; things I wanted to do. And I managed to graduate at the same time.
What I’m trying to say is this: you don’t have to be leaving soon to live like this. As it turns out, I’m probably going to be staying for another year here in Santa Cruz (which reminds me: if any of you know of some job I could take, let me know). But, still, looking back, there’s not much I would have changed. I plan on living the rest of my life like this. dramatic pause I recommend you do the same. Sure, you might not make quite as much money, and you might die of a heart attack from all the stress you give yourself, but in the end, its worth it.
Thank you.
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