Graduation Speech :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

As we sit here this evening, knowing not what lies ahead, but feeling satisfied that we have completed this challenge, we start to wonder. What have we gained from these last 13 years of school? How often have we asked ourselves: Why do we attend school? What do we expect to accomplish? And what do we gain? Questions, whose importance we may not fully understand today, but which have drastically molded our futures. Sure, this path hasn't been the easiest to follow, but we navigated through the complications and tribulations to the point we are at now, and I ask once again, what have we gained? Education has supplied us with a commonality, a basic foundation on which we may establish our ideas. These ideas are the essential elements that dominate our lives. Each is unique and special. But just like it is perplexing to communicate without understanding the other person, it is difficult to express ideas without an education. Today, let us give thanks to all those who have helped us along the way: our parents for their love and support, our teachers for their dedication and encouragement, and to our fellow classmates for their friendship and compassion. In this stage of life we are still discovering ourselves and the world around us. Our experiences are lacking and our world varies tremendously from our parents' and grandparents' generations. We are still struggling for meaning and purpose. As we continue to grow and develop, our understanding will blossom and our convictions will strengthen. Because of our technology, our generation can communicate world-wide. As we continue to strive for greater opportunities and a better life, we must resist being consumed by our own inventions and instead aspire to personally interact with the outside world. The Internet and other modes of communication can only provide a window, a seat in the theater of life. The world is a stage and we are the actors -- the performers that touch the lives of our children -- the innovators of this conventional realm. Technology can only perform the tasks we program into it; accomplishment requires a human being. Striving for knowledge and perfection is admirabl e, but have the courage to maintain your personal identity. Put your emphasis on the qualities that define our individual personalities and contribute to our diversity. So, what have we gained? These last 13 years of school have prepared us for the journey we are about to embark upon.