Graduation Commencement for Class of 2016

            Thank you so much for this grand opportunity to speak to all of you, I am so humbled and delighted this day to be the one standing before you after all these years to commemorate your graduation day. To all the graduates; a big thanks to you for all the hard work and toil to be the ones seating on those seats today. Congratulations.

            Let me begin by thanking the administration and management of Pottsgrove high school for the fruits of their labor that we can all see today that worked hard to ensure that these graduates are here today. I am very proud to be part of this family and to be associated with you all; you have made us proud. I want to take this opportunity and recognize all the trustees, the faculty and staff here in this school for all the effort they put to see the students complete their high school education. God bless you. You have all played a very instrumental role in molding and shaping these beautiful and handsome faces standing before us today. They are the hope for the future.

            This goes to all the graduates; one very powerful person told graduates to stop dreaming and start doing. I know that you all have dreams but what are you doing to make your dreams become a reality? If you sit and do nothing the dream will always be a dream and never be a realized dream. Today, the world has very many dreamers; these are the people you talk to and they have a lot of information of where they want to go and how to get there but are actually doing nothing about it. We should know that as people are busy dreaming others are busy acting and implementing their dreams. These are the ones we consider very successful, very happy, very powerful and influential and very busy people. I urge you today that you should become a doer and not a dreamer.

            You may not be aware of your passion as at now, but that is not important; the one and most important thing is for you to keep moving forward. By this I mean that you have to keep yourself busy doing something; be creative and open minded, seize every opportunity as it comes, be a risk taker bearing in mind that the greater the risk, the greater the gain. Whatever comes your way do it; it does not have to fit in your perfect lifestyle or vision. Doing things the same old way creates monotony and with time becomes boring. You are young people; explore new .businesses, explore the world, learn new things and through this you will make your dream a reality.

            Robert, one of the greatest people on earth said that change is something that is inevitable. It is only a vending machine that would never change. Today as you stand on the verge of crossing over to move beyond the walls of Pottsgrove high school; you become inevitable to change. It is indeed predictable, pleasing and rewarding to see our 2016 class graduating today having matured and possessed the skills and proficiency required for them to handle and extend their education levels. You are well able and equipped to be a problem solver out there. This is because relationships, structures and systems are all vulnerable to change especially with this changing technology. This is one of the many reasons why you should ‘always keep yourself updated with the ‘current information. The information that you .may have today may become obsolete tomorrow. Keep yourself informed; there are many channels through which we can acquire information today; Google, television news, social media among other plat forms.

            It is vital to note that you will face new challenges out there and things may appear to be different for you. It is true to say that life is going to appear a little bit more complex and stirred up; but do not fear for we have been there and have made it and so will you make it too.

            As we look back today, we see a journey that started with tentative, cautious and diffident steps; but today we can see the far that these ladies and gentlemen have advanced. It has been a tribute and a privilege to me to be part of this successful journey which has been filled with wonderful and memorable memories. Kindly allow me to share some of these memories with you; this is back in the year 2003 when I was your coach in T ball and later in the little league. Back then you were little children and encounters with you in the field were very exciting. Seeing you in those tiny uniforms and the zeal to play right filled my heart with joy as I kept praying that God will honor your zeal and keep you strong until a day like today. As I look at you today, I am so grateful to God and to you too for keeping up the spirit and ensuring that this day becomes a reality.

            This memory portray the character of our graduating class of 2016; a character of resilience, hard work, flexibility, integrity, zeal, enthusiasm and passion for all of them. I would be humbled to pay tribute to each and every one of them. Yes, we have gone through trials and difficulties along the way but we have soldiered on and have come out stronger and more powerful. The extraordinary and magical instances will ne greatly be remembered through the years. All of you have left an ineffaceable and permanent legacy of superiority, excellence, achievement and an awesome culture for all people that will go through this institution.

            The future of our state is predestined into the hands of capable and intelligent people. This class of 2016 has attained outstanding compliments and awards. Their excellent results are a proof of this; it shows that a great number of students struggled to work to the best of their potential; they had high goals and targets which they not only achieved but exceeded them by far.

            Therefore, ladies and gentlemen even as you handle the expected changes that come your way, stay true to yourself, believe in yourself and know that you are well able to make it. Please keep holding on your systems of value, ethics and morality and most significant of all, your humanitarian values. These are some of the qualities that will take you through life journey.

            One of the wise sayings by Henry Ford states that coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is a success (Jay, 2014). If we can all remember the day we came here as nervous and new students with our proud parents we did not see the reality of this day. But here it is, successful as a result of the steadfastness, determination and the resolutions we kept together. Each and every day we were focused on our goals and worked together as a family. This graduation shows the fruits of our working together despite the challenges we faced on the way. Let this torch your life out there.

            The world is depending on your readiness and ability to illuminate but remember you cannot make it on your own. Learn to work together bearing in mind that unity is strength and divided you will fall (Crowley & Crowley, 2014).  Wherever you shall be ensure that there is cohesion and cooperation among the people you are with. You need each other to stand and to grow.

            The next thing I want to talk about is choices. Today marks the end of our high school lives and the commencement of new chapters in our lives and tomorrow marks the end of the common bond that we all shared. We will be leaving Pottsgrove high school for good. This is to mean that we will be taking very different paths determined by the choices we make and living very different lives.

            We need to know that the choices we make will determine our paths of destiny and will have tremendous impacts on our lives too. By this I don’t mean the choice of whether to obey your parents or not; I mean choices that have an impact on your career that will determine your life. We need to understand that making choices is not an easy task and I am sure that some of us are already cynical of the choices that you have already made. Choices make or break us, they change everything around us. We are responsible for the choices we make; whether good or bad.

            Some of us here may not be completely aware of what they want to do with their lives immediately after this graduation which is completely okay. My advice to you is to take time and know what you want in life; where your strengths are and finally sit and make a decision. Never make critical decisions hurriedly or to please someone else or you will regret it. I know some of you have developed strong relationships and bonds here and you may want to follow your friend to the same university or better still do the same course. Please don’t fall into this snare; we are all different because we are all uniquely different and our difference in interests explains this. It is also important to go to career counselors and they will help you to make an informed decision about your career. Wrong choices destroy lives, please ensure you don’t fall victim to this.

            Your grades here do not determine who you will be in the future. You may not have attained what you expected but do not give up on yourself. There is more to life than high school grades. You can make a difference if you choose to work on yourself because I believe that there is always room for improvement. The power to change not just your grades or your life is always within reach. All what you are required to do is to locate and use it for your benefit. I have read and seen testimonies of people who had low grades in high school but have made it in life; you are not different. It all lays in the decisions you make as an individual and the steps you take.

            Tyler Durden said that, “you are not your job, you are not how much money you have in the bank, you are not the contents of your wallet, you are not the clothes you wear, you are not your Grande latte, you are not the car you drive, you are not your khakis, you are you”  (luntz, 2009). Do not try to be someone else just be the real you. This world we live in is full of followers that have caused people to accept this mindless attempt of making us become what we are not. This has caused a loss of personal identity because we want to be like the person on the other end who is successful and intelligent not knowing that it took them a journey to get there. This is one of the major causes of wrong choices in life. I therefore urge all of us, know and accept the real you and this will help you make choices that will better your life.

            Hunter, (2009) states that “birds of feather flock together,” this tell you that people of the same mindset, the same level of thinking and the same characters will always be found together. There is one English proverb that says if you show me your friend I will be able to tell you the kind of person you are. This is to mean the people around you determine how your life would be. It is true to say that if you stay around lazy and non focused people the same will reflect on you. I know all of us have a vision and are focused, let us chose our friends wisely because the company we chose will determine character. Stay around the kind of people that are positive, goal oriented, focused and as the saying goes iron sharpens iron; you will be able to reach your goal easily.

            In relation to this, let me speak about the issue of drugs and substance abuse. This is a topic that has been an issue to the nation and the world at large. When I say drugs I mean cocaine, heroin, marijuana and alcohol. I believe we been taught in our classes the effects of the same. After you leave this gate after the graduation nobody will follow you as much as the time you we here. Despite the fact that your parents will be looking out for you, you will take responsibility of your actions. People are out there waiting to lure you into taking these drugs with the promise that they will make you feel good and that you are an adult now. Ladies and gentlemen beware of such as they will only be leading you to destruction. All of us have not only heard but seen the effects of drugs on people. They will ruin your life, create addiction and you may end up in jail for cases of crime. I know that you are responsible people watch out for your lives and avoid drugs and substance abuse.

            Choose to live a happy life rather than live a life that is determined by the circumstances around you or what other people may think about you. Ensure that you live life with the right reasons knowing that life can be tough at times and your parents will not always be there to bail you out. The manner in which you chose to do things around you is entirely dependent on you.

            As you have always shows the attribute of perseverance, keep this even after your life here. This is because the secret to success always endurance. If you want to be successful in live never give in despite the circumstances around you; desire to press on until you make it. Endurance will help to propel your life no matter the challenges that come your way; winners never quit and quitters never win. Thomas Edison, the man who invented a bulb failed a thousand times but never give up. He was optimistic and one day a reported asked him how it felt fail 1000 times but surprisingly he said that he didn’t fail it only showed 1000 ways that would not invent a bulb.

            Be optimistic about your failures and learn from them. This is because mistakes are a normal part of life but ensure that a mistake is not repeated. Mistakes help us to identify the weak points and work on them. In case we face obstacles in life, do not run away from them instead face them head on. This is because leaders and great people solve problems and will always enable you to be a great thinker of the possible solutions for the obstacle.

            Lastly time is a very important resource in our daily lives. Each and every person living in the world has 24 hours a day to run their activities. The difference comes in the way we manage our time. One can either use time to their profit or to their loss. During your stay here in school the management regulated through the use of schedules and bells, however, out there you are your own time manager. You determine what to do with the 24 hours that are generally given to all of us. Please take away the culture of effective time management you learnt here in school; the use of schedules and time tables. Make the most out of your time by marking the difference between that which is important and that which is a priority.

            The achievements that you have made today will one day be long forgotten, the consistent applauses that you are excited about may be very distant and your certificates and ,medals may not make a difference but one thing will; your character. People will remember you as that very caring person that helped someone and made them feel special, or that person that turned around the life of needy child or that kind person that treated others with respect and ensured fairness and justice is equated to all. As I sum up, watch your thoughts as they determine your words, watch your words they determine your actions, watch your actions they determine your habit, watch your habits as they determine your character and watch your character as it determines your destiny. Your life is an extraordinary and outstanding occasion I believe in you and have no shadow of doubt that you will rise to it. Thank you.

References

 

Luntz, F. I. (2007). Words that work: It's not what you say, it's what people hear. New York:       Hyperion.

 

Hunter, J. L. (2009). Birds of a feather flock together: Sermons that use images from nature.        Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing.

Crowley, A., & Crowley, R. E. (2014). The book of the law: (technically called Liber al vel legis             sub figura CCXXas delivered by XCIII = 418 to DCLXVI). United States: Enhanced    ebooks.

 

Jay, D. (2014). It takes a family: A cooperative approach to lasting sobriety.