We made it!

I am so proud of us for making it.

And you should be proud, too.

We, the class of this year, are about to enter a new world. It's a world that may seem scary, or exciting, or some third word, but it's also a world full of possibility.

Let's take a second to thank all the parents in the room. Without the parents, none of us would be here. And now let's never mention our parents again.

This is the beginning of an amazing journey, as well as the beginning of a long, semi-metaphorical remark of feigned reflection that quickly turns into a shout out. Shout out to you, popular doofus! Isn't it nice that we can get one last laugh at his expense? But don't worry because he enjoys the attention!

It's incredible how quickly these past four years have gone by. Thinking back to that first day as a freshmen, I couldn't believe how scared I was, and even if I wasn't, it definitely benefits this story to pretend that I was. Everything was so new and intimidating, like every single time you experience significant change in life. But we kept moving along, pushing through, and look at us now: we own this school! Not legally, of course, but figuratively, once you ignore the presence of teachers and administrators.