Mother Teresa once said,” Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”

I have looked at this quote as a guide throughout my high school life. It tells me to keep faith, and to never give up, and that’s what I want not just for myself, but everyone. As little kids we always had the dream of crossing this stage, not being able to wait until we were 18. As scary as it is to be standing up here, giving you all, and myself, a pep talk as we enter into the real world, I couldn’t be more blessed to be graduating with such amazing friends.

Our class has always been close knit and even though we have a few problems here and there, no one has ever been excluded. As I stand up here looking at each and every one of you, I want you to know how proud I am of everyone and their accomplishments. We have come so far and I know that the group of people sitting here with their cap and gowns are going to do amazing things with their lives when they cross this stage.

As we sit here I want you to remember the unforgettable memories we made as a class. From the outrageous dances of the Whip, the Dab, the Nae Nae to water bottle flipping and taking a joy ride on the golf cart across campus. Our senior prank where we made freshman wear red and Matt Cowles dressed as a bull and tackled the poor kids. For me, I know I’ll never forget those memories. Just like how I’ll never forget this class. We made so many memories and I want you to cherish those as we move on with our lives and part ways. But let us not dwell on the past, let those memories take us to a happy place, to tell our kids stories about the pep rallies and our fun times with friends.

Standing here, I’m proud to say that we made it. Through all the laughs, the tears, the anger, and the drama we made it. I want to thank our parents for raising us with some common sense and pushing us to do and be our best. Our teachers for seeing the potential in us when we couldn’t. Spending hours to make us work hard and helping us find ourselves. Lastly, I want to thank you, the graduates, for making my school life bearable and being the best class I could be a part of. Let’s make our school, our families, ourselves, and, most importantly, God proud.