Commencement Address Speech

Congratulations class of 2023! It’s hard to believe that we are finally here. All of those years of hard work from coloring in between the lines in Kindergarten to completing 1600 long and boring membean minutes in senior english. It feels like just the other day we were entering Kindergarten and we had zero worries in the world. But now, here we are, school is over and we are all looking to begin our journeys and go wherever life takes us.

I’ve learned a lot from high school. But most importantly, I think we can all agree that we’ve learned some important life lessons. Like learning to never give up even when things get tough. And with enough hard work and determination, anything is possible. I’ve also learned that it’s ok to fail, what matters most is how you respond and how you learn from it. There will be times in our future where things will get tough, but I believe that high school set us up to know how to deal with those situations. I truly believe that there’s no problem that is too big to overcome. Without high school, I don’t think I would have that same mindset. School also taught us how to be independent and solve problems on our own. But we also learned that it’s important to ask for help when needed. 

That brings me to my next point, thank you to everyone that has helped me along the way. Thank you to every teacher that has ever taught me and my classmates along the way through K through 12. Not only all of my teachers but all of the school staff including the principals, bus drivers, the custodians, and the staff working in the kitchen. All of you guys helped make school a much better experience for all of us. Plus, I have to thank my parents for always being there for me whenever I needed them. I can’t count the amount of times my mom has helped me with my homework on the night before the assignment was due. She definitely didn’t help me write this speech though. I’m also thankful for all of my sports coaches that have coached me throughout the years. I’m especially thankful for baseball because baseball has taught me a lot about life. In baseball it’s very easy to fail but that’s what makes it a great sport. Baseball is full of learning experiences and that’s how it relates to real life. I know that in the future there will always be mistakes that are going to happen. But baseball has taught me how to learn from those mistakes. That’s why I am forever grateful for all of the coaches that have coached me. 

Now that I think about it, it truly feels like we are all one big family. None of that would be possible without the relationships that we’ve been able to create through sports and high school. As I near the end of this speech I wanted to share some hopes for the future. I hope that the class of 2023 will go on to pursue all of their dreams. There’s so many different paths that you can take after graduating and I hope that whatever path you take, you will be successful. But most importantly, I hope you find happiness, because I believe that happiness is the key to success. Now I better put an end to this speech because I just talked for 3 minutes straight and I’ve never done that before in my entire life. Good luck class of 2023.

“graduation” by Sean MacEntee is licensed under CC BY 2.0.