Most of us have been together since pre-k, some of us have been together since middle school, and most of us could tell you that, we don’t like each other at all, and they wouldn’t be lying. Today is not a day to focus on who likes who or who stole your boyfriend in 6th grade, but to join together as the class of 2020 and accomplish great things and celebrate that at least half of us have made it this far. We all have different plans, we all have different lives. Some of you will go off to join the military, some to get a college degree, and others who still have no clue. What we plan to be makes us different but we are all the same in being successful and doing what we can to help make our world a better place.

Most of us plan on never coming back to Berkeley Springs and for about half of us, that is true . If you look to your left and right you will see your graduating class, if you look behind you, you will see your biggest supporters sitting in the bleachers, crying because their children are becoming adults, and if you look all around, you will see the teachers and staff who have pushed us to achieve, work, and earn what brought you here today. A lot of these same teachers sat in the same seats as you having the same feelings as you, “to get the hell out of here,” but they came back.

You’ll leave and stay wherever you are for a few months, and, as most teens going into adulthood, we will still be stubborn, and wait till last minute to come back. Adulthood will hit when you come home and realize your younger siblings are in high school, your parents have new hobbies and different friends, and your dog treats you like a stranger, and that is when most of us accept how hard things really are. So, go home and spend time with your family, thank your parents for all that they have done, and teach your siblings a lesson or two that you wish you knew. It has been a great journey and hopefully continues to be. Congratulations class of 2020!