108 Kids Go

Music: Five Kids Go by Hell Is For Heroes

Well it's over, it's all over. 108 kids graduated from BMR on the morning of June 5th, 2004. I was so nervous all morning. I had no idea what I was doing as I started reading my speech. But about a paragraph in, after one or two solid laughs, I realized that it wasn't really so bad. I liked the material I was reading, and the crowd seemed responsive, so I loosened up and let it flow. The audience, the students especially, laughed at all the jokes (except the Andrew Jackson one, haha, but that was only for fellow AP History students), and I really got into it. It was an amazing experience. I received a standing ovation at the end, and I really couldn't believe it.

Here's the speech for those who weren't there:
"Ah, high school. Where to begin about high school…. I was initially considering using an analogy comparing high school to a baseball game, concluding that both were too damn long with a speech that was ironically also too damn long, but luckily, I decided to forego that and am going to try to make this as concise as possible

A lot has changed since we first entered high school. We entered as children and are leaving as legal adults. We’re mobile, employed, franchised, and opinionated, and for once in charge of the direction of our own lives. The next step is entirely up to us. Of course there are ramifications for this newfound autonomy, mainly a switch in our methods of justifying our afflictions, forcing us to blame the world at large instead of our parents. But hey, I am sure they’ll be glad to throw off that burden.

When I said a lot has changed, I wasn’t only referring to ourselves. Look at the world around us. The last four years have seen economic turmoil, terrible destruction both at home and abroad, the greatest nation in the world declaring war on a noun, and the invention of the fruit-filled Ego waffle. Goth has given way to emo, the end of the world has come and gone at least 3 times, and your value as a person is now dependent on how many little flags you have attached to your Hummer. Hell, Yahoo was even superseded by Google, what the heck is wrong with this crazy world (well, besides rap)?

But it’s good to know that our time at BMR has prepared us to face these inherited burdens. When you’re writing up the charter for your new joint-stock business venture, just think: what would Ethan Frome do? When you’re working out the calculations for your marine squad’s drop formation, think back to those geometry proofs that allowed you to show that one did indeed equal one. And who could forget all those guest speakers who were brave enough to fight through the propaganda and inform us all that drugs and alcohol had negative consequences? I mean, I didn’t know, did you guys? And what of The Song of Roland, I can’t think of any career that that WOULDN’T be useful in!

Even in the off-chance that you don’t actively use something you’ve learned from BMR in your career, the knowledge you’ve gained here is a precious gift that will enrich your life. Your experience with iambic pentameter and the causes of the fall of the Qing Empire will stay with you forever. Your knowledge of the problem they had with those people in Russia, or that South American guy, you know, that guy – that guy will enrich your life. I don’t ask myself “What would Jesus do?” I ask myself “What would Andrew Jackson do?” Of course asking that always leads me to the response “Close the national bank” but that’s a problem for a different day.

All jokes aside, I do hope everyone has learned something valuable from this experience. High school is a time of growing up, a time of finding out who you are and what you enjoy, hopefully setting the stage for a life prolific in both challenge and satisfaction. High school isn’t about who so-and-so went out with, or what the in-crowd thinks about your new leg warmers. Nor is it about sacrificing your sanity to turn that 99 into a 100, or getting into the favorites brigade of some megalomaniac. All that matters once you grab that diploma and shake that hand is the growing up and learning you hopefully experienced and how that’s going to help you on the next leg of your journey.

It’s easy to let things in high school get you down. High school is a constant game of appearances. Parents and officials don’t always understand the next generation and its loud music, and certain standards are set that often result in treating students as children. Driving, voting, military service, sure, but you need a special form just to walk the halls!

Other expectations are set for education, or at least perceived education. Curriculum nonsense, buzzwords and acronyms aplenty, seem to be the newest craze. Confusion is created by renaming classes without changing the core foundation, ignoring the fact that 1.0 classes are still 1.0 classes whether labeled as college prep or not. And political correctness is a must of course. Infuse a little comedy and break that cookie-cutter image and bam, there goes your honor, national, social, or otherwise, and your respect.

But what may initially seem important is oft nothing more than a humorous anecdote in the epic novel that is your life. Funny word, “but.” As a conjunction, “but” separates two ideas from each other. It marks the transition from one train of thought to the next. This present graduation is much like that simple but effective word, bridging the gap between our past and our future.

And to the future we look, awaiting successes beyond the halls of this school. Success is defined in a myriad of ways, and you’ll find it one way or another. Always fight for what you believe in and focus on what makes you happy and everything will work out for the best.

So, in conclusion, the world don’t move to the beat of just one drum, what might be right for you may not be right for some. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have…. my speech.

Here’s to new beginnings, 2004."

Click here for printable Word document

It went about as good as it could possibly go, and I had a really great time. After the ceremony concluded, I went party hopping. I stopped at Mitch's for a bit, then caught up with Alicia and Heather at Steve's, and eventually we switched over to Matt's. Thanks to all the friends who made today great, thanks for the congratulations or hugs or both, it all really meant a lot to me. I have a bit more to say but I'm wiped from today, so maybe tomorrow.

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All we have left is self-control
All we have to do is pack up and go