Parents, Teachers, Honoured Guests ... Blacks and Whites.
Forgive me if tonight I seem afraid - I am. Forgive me, if I seem hesitant: I am. Perhaps I'm expected to say that I feel older or that I'm aware of a great moment of change. I am aware that an important part of my life, sometimes referred to as the happiest days of your life, is changing. But at this moment I can't prophesy or conclude the consequence. The change is perhaps that I am leaving a period of the carefree and entering a different era of responsibility. It seems that only yesterday I was stalking imaginary bad guys and shooting them dead. As I stand here tonight it feels as if I could reach out and touch the time when I thought girls were ugly and stupid, but now I have changed my mind even about that.
Perhaps tonight is a time for remembering. Remembering days when daddy was the strongest man in the world and mommy, the prettiest girl. Yesterday was a time for growing, a time for building muscles, a brain, developing a character, but most of all it was a time for creating a mind of my own, a mind that has to be so stable it can meet every challenge it comes up against and face that challenge.
Remember that first day of school when Mom got you all dressed up and how you couldn't wait to get there but now, even more impatient we were to get home and into that lovely old pair of dirty jeans we had been wearing all summer? That was the beginning of 12 years of happy days and unhappy days as well, carefree days and many worries about why and how and am I doing alright? This is what we are graduating from.
These are the memories, some common to all, some very special to me, that we will be leaving behind for growing up.
Are we ready to go out into a world where weakness is not often an asset, a world where black can't get along with white, and a world where the thing to do is be better than everyone else. Will it be worth it? Are we afraid to face it? Are we afraid of what's going on around us now? Perhaps we are, but we must face it. What we need now is courage. Courage to meet every obstacle.
I have heard and read national and international politicians, local politicians and my peers talk about "making this world a better place to live in." I feel that way too; I feel it strongly, I don't think that each of us must contribute to a society and perhaps change the old adage from "love thy neighbour" to "Help thy neighbour." After all, We're the generation that's saying "what the world needs now is love". Okay, if this is so, let's practice what we preach! Each one of us is going to live our life differently. Some of us will be rich, some poor, some tall, some short, some healthy, some sick. Let's hope that we don't scorn our neighbor for what he has or has not.
We're the generation that's protesting about pollution. Did you know that Karnloops is the only city from here to Los Angeles where the birds wake up coughing? We want a better educational system and more freedom even if it means changing the laws in a democratic way, but the one thing we want most of all is a say in what is going on. If this is what we want, let's get it, but in a way that won't hurt anyone.
The time has come for us to start thinking of others. We should start thinking of our children and how we are going to better this world for them. The time has come for us to thank those who have helped us through the years.
Many times we have been given the right guidance and fair marks but occasionally the wrong guidance and unfair marks we felt we didn't deserve, but let's remember every teacher did this with a will to help. Education has provided us with worlds and new friends. Sure there's room for improvement but doesn't everything need improvement, even us here?
Our parents and teachers in the last 12 years have tried to prepare us for the goals we have
set in life. We haven't really touched on life, we are just beginning to now.
"How tall we are
We've learned so much
Everything, it seems
But how to stay in touch."
Some of us are going to university, college, technical schools, others will hopefully find employment immediately. I hope we all have good luck. Will we stay in touch? In touch with the teachings of our past, with the examples of sacrifices of Moms and Dads, in touch with the hopes of dedicated teachers and will we stay in touch with each other?
"We've learned so much
Everything, it seems
But how to stay in touch."
