Your Average Grad Speech

Hello class of 2022 it seems that one way or another we’ve managed to squirm our way out of this ditch that we call school. However much we may say we hate it though it is our ditch nontheless. We struggled through our freshman year learning the ropes of what seemed to be an entirely new world. We were awed at our upperclassmen who seemed much more like adults than us in every aspect. Only to realize they were still kids just like us once we decided to stop seeing our delusions of grandeur. We slithered through our sophomore year of high school learning new things about ourselves everyday though looking back, Although I’m not sure if all of us have learned good things we have learned enough to know that stealing soap dispensers is somehow funny? Never going to understand that sense of humor anytime soon but what I do know whats funny is watching my friends make monkey noises while watching planet of the apes.. don’t ask.  Just when things seemed to be going well we were struck with the mother of all viruses or is it father? It doesn’t matter what it does is the fact that I managed to survive this long and not fail a single year. I mean for the love of god I was online for the second semester of sophomore year and the entirety of junior year and I almost lost my mind completely. I had practically skipped my junior year and went straight to senior year which to be honest with you is probably the weirdest thing I have experienced. They had been twisted and turned like swiss cheese into new people Similie. I had seen faces I hadn’t seen in over a year and it felt like a fresh start. However to be fair many people changed around me and some people didn’t change at all it was all so familiar yet so new. Junior year felt like I had traveled througha tear in space Symbol and time into a different universe. I didn’t realize it until Senior year started but I too had grown exponentially and in the most unexpected ways. I myself had grown five or so inches over the course of two or so and a half years turning me from a short scrawny kid to a normal height teen or at least what I believe to be normal. 

However the most unexpected thing of them all is the fact that I had taken an interest in martial arts. Surely I had lost my mind right? The nerdy kid who played fighting games all the time had decided to actually learn the moves in the games he loved to play so much? It must have been a dream and that was a reality when I decided to start going a boxing gym with my half brained now gym buddy Kyan Sands. Who would have thought that learning boxing would be this fun being able to exercise and punch a bag? After some sweat and determination I figured out that I was better at boxing than I had initially believed and more importantly had fun doing it. The medball slams on my stomach hadn’t taken me out yet so I decided “why not try sparring”. This part of boxing really got me engaged. My blood was pumping and the thought of trying to outsmart another person trying to punch me in the face made me realize how hard this sport really is. Taking a single punch felt like going through a whirlwind Imagery I didn’t know if I was dumb or punch drunk but even after getting hooked to the head for the third time it didn’t even faze me and it made me want to preform even better. After a workout and three rounds of hell I decided that I wanted to do this long term. I don’t know if the Roy Jones Jr. knockout highlights got to me or Kyan’s trash talk but I now loved the sport of boxing. However there was something else that coincided with my interest in professional boxing. 

My love for video games was something that I would never give up for even a minute. I had always wanted to become a professional video game player. I mean who wouldn’t want to play video games for a living it sounds like a dream come true. Being able to make hundreds of thousands if not millions for simply being good at something that you love is something that any person would love to do. Choosing between two things that I have such a passion for is something that is going to bring happiness and regrets regardless of my decision. While I still haven’t made a decision it is a choice that I am not looking forward to. Whichever one I choose is one that I will dedicate my life to so it is one of the toughest decisions I have yet to make. 

People change whether it be for the better or the worse and we can only make do with what cards we are given. Not being able to learn more about yourself as a person is something that no person should have to go through because it is a unique journey. I have learned many new things about myself and the reason I was able to enjoy the things I do today is because I opened myself up to new things I have never done before. Learning these things about myself made me an overall happier person. I wasn’t depressed or angry anymore, I was content and happy with myself. I was proud for the person who I had become over the years. I found my own happiness doing what I loved as hobby’s and hopefully future job’s. What I’m trying to say is that if you explore your options and take your time you will truly find what you are looking for in life to make you happy. It doesn’t have to be a boyfriend or girlfriend or fancy clothes and a nice house, it just has to be what makes you happy. I can tell you life will still be hard when you are trying to achieve your goals but you will be happy as hell when you do reach them.

“Graduation Cap” by snowpeak is licensed under CC BY 2.0.