My Grad Speech
Thank you, Mr. Rinehart and Mr. Lytle in spirit.
You know… the first few years at this school were incredibly anxiety-producing for me. The memory that stands out is in second grade when I had a vision of my mother dying horribly in a car crash right after I had been dropped off at school. I sprinted out of my classroom, ran all around campus searching for her, but I couldn't find her. I continued this manic path until Mr. Berenger found me and was able to calm me down.
Even though I was surrounded by so much love and support at this school, I still had an incredibly difficult time adjusting to life at school instead of life at home. But by the time I got to sixth or seventh grade, my favorite part of each day was coming to school. Spending time with my teachers, who were like parental figures, and with my class, who were like siblings to me. Every day I would come here, and it was my favorite part of the day.
But my anxiety turned to making me fear the day that I would inevitably have to leave this school. Every night I would tell myself, "Aidan, you have six more years—that's half your time here." But it went quick, and now I'm standing up here. I don't fear this day anymore like I did when I was 12. Now I feel like my arc is complete. I went from hating school to loving school to recognizing and valuing the wonderful things I've gained from being in such a beautiful community.
I can now proudly say that I fear nothing about leaving this community. I will miss everyone here deeply, but I am excited for the world. I know that I wasn't the easiest student to bring up through here, so I want to sincerely thank every person who helped me along my way: my friends, my parents, my teachers, my family.
Thank you so much.
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