Good evening honored guests, parents, teachers, friends and fellow classmates. The class of '81 is very happy that you could all be with us tonight. Thank you for being here and for your good wishes. These wishes will have to last us a lifetime because (hopefully) we won't be participating in too many more high school commencement ceremonies. Fellow gradmates — I am very proud to have been a classmate of yours and I am very honoured for you to have chosen me as your valedictorian.
I'd like to relate some of my first experiences at Kam High to you. My memories of my first days at this school will always be fond ones. I'll never forget the first time I walked into my homeroom and found Miss Schimmel at the front of the class. Have any of you ever seen Miss Schimmel? I was alone, not knowing more than a handful of kids and the first teacher I see is a 4'11" French teacher with hair like this. Next I ran into Mr. Nykorak. I'll always remember his first words of encouragement for me — "Marchand, you're going to self-destruct." I guess that's when I realized how ... well ... unique this school really is.
There are so many ingredients that make a school truly great and truly special. First of course you need good students and that we certainly are but, we couldn't do it alone. We couldn't have done it without our moms and dads whom we all hold dear to our hearts. We couldn't have done it without dedicated teachers and a community willing to put time and effort into the school. This year we had this important combination. We excelled in events ranging from athletics and academics to drama and band. Never before has Kam High seen so many outstanding students and so much participation.
Participation is the key to success. If we can participate in life with as much enthusiasm and enjoyment as we have participated this school year the future will be very bright.
I've been thinking a lot lately ... yes, believe it or not I have been thinking and my thoughts have been on school. Everything we've done for the past twelve years has been centered on school and we having been looking forward to graduation. And now that graduation is here, we begin to look back.
Looking back it seems that going through school is like driving through Spuzzum and closing your eyes — you don't realize what you had until it's already gone.
Grade one seems to have been only yesterday and in a few short years when we're reflecting on our graduation, it will be so very close. We only graduate from high school once and it is a time to cherish. Look around. After exams in June we may never again see some of these friends with whom we have grown up. That does not make graduation a sad time though. It is a time to make new friends; it is a time to move out; and it is a time to look forward to the new challenges that will be facing us.
There are "so many paths" that we can follow, so many choices that we can make. Some of us will be off to college or university; some of us will travel to distant lands, and some of us will embark on new careers.
No one knows where his or her path will lead or what he or she will have accomplished in the next 10 years. But, wherever we go and whatever we do, let's attack it with a positive attitude. I know that the class of '81 can do anything we want to do and do it well. Half the battle is in that positive approach.
Over the years we've had a great deal of guidance and help from our parents and teachers. As we leave our training ground and head into the future we will no longer have them by our sides. We will however have the benefit of the values we have been taught. They will help us to make responsible decisions and lead us along our chosen paths.
I'd like to leave you with one thought. It's something that is said often around our house — "To thine own self be true." I think it's fitting because if you can't be honest with yourself and give everything you try everything you have you will never feel truly fulfilled even if you attain all your goals. Remember that the most important thing in life is not material wealth but rather to be happy so do what you know is right in your heart - you won't regret it. Oh: One last thing. Remember that life is like a banana so watch out for the peels on your path. Thanks and good luck!
