We’re All Different, But We All Want The Same Thing

Good afternoon graduating class of 2022. As I began planning this commencement speech, I couldn’t figure out what to write about. To me, it seemed like there was no possible way to give a speech that our entire class could relate to. After all, we’re all so different.

First of all, our personalities and interests cover such a wide range. Some of us like to joke around and not take life too seriously, while others are composed and serious. Some of us are very patient and understanding, but others not so much. A few of us are good at procrastinating (okay maybe a lot of us), but the rest are always right on top of their game. Among those in our class we have dancers, video gamers, three-sport athletes, artists, musicians, bakers, horseback riders, actors, geniuses, world travelers, and so much more. How was I supposed to find something that all of us have in common?

To make it more difficult for me, we’ve all had very different high school experiences. Some of us have attended every football or basketball game, and others haven’t attended any of them. Some of us thrived sophomore year, some thrived senior year, and maybe some of us don’t feel like we’ve thrived at all. We loved school, or we hated it, or we just couldn’t decide. There were class members involved in the French club, Drama club, the Civil Rights Team, National Honor Society, E-sports, fall sports, winter sports, spring sports…and some of us did sports that weren’t through the school at all. Many of us got our license, a car, and a job, but even that looked different for everyone. We all took different classes with different teachers and had different advisors. Some of us had lots of friendship drama, while others had next to none. All of these differences made it even harder for me to find one thing we all have in common.

Finally, we all have different plans after graduation. Some of us will move right into the workforce. Some of us will enlist in the military. Many of us will attend college, but even that will lead us each down a different path. We are all completely different people who have had completely different lives, both at home and at school. Even the one experience we definitely all shared – high school – was vastly different from person to person. But there is one thing that I’m confident every single one of us has in common: We all want to be successful. Who doesn’t?

This raises the question, what does it actually mean to be successful? Well, (surprise) this definition is different for all of us. In fact, we can all create our own definitions of the word (Just don’t tell that to the English teachers). To some of us, being successful in life may mean owning our own business, or having lots of money, or having a family with kids and a nice house and office job. The list is endless, but this is my one note of caution: don’t confuse success and happiness. They may look the same, but they are very different. In fact, let me reword that one thing we all have in common. What I meant to say is: we all want to be happy. How are we going to do that? By advocating for ourselves; by facing challenges head on to learn and gain experience; by surrounding ourselves with people who understand and support us; by making the most out of every situation we’re thrown into, good or bad. If we want to be happy, we’ll need to stop caring so much about what other people think and live our lives exactly the way WE want to. We’ll have to push ourselves past our limits to find out what we’re really capable of. If we want to be successful, we first have to learn to be happy. Success will not guarantee happiness, but as long as you’re happy, you will be successful. 

So, though we all have very different futures ahead of us, I hope we can all be united in seeking happiness, which will lead us to success, however you choose to define the word. Congratulations on graduating, and I wish you all the best of luck.

“As The World Keeps Turning …” by HckySo is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.Copy text