Valedictorian Speech

Here is my Valedictorian Speech. Hope you like it!

Good evening, thank you all for coming tonight. It is an honor and privilege to stand and speak in front of you this evening. To my classmates I would just like to say how amazing these past few years have been. Life just wouldn’t be the same if I hadn’t met you guys. Thank you for that. I’d also like to thank God for the opportunity to attend such a wonderful school. I’ve learned so much over the years. St. Paul not only teaches you math, science, language, reading and social studies, St. Paul also teaches its students good morals and values; about being our best and respecting others. Most importantly they teach us about God. About His love for us, how much he cares for us, and how he died for us. The teachers at St. Paul also set the standards high. Sometimes they may seem a bit too much but they only do that because they expect our best efforts and know that we all have the potential to succeed. Their faith and belief in each of their students is just another great quality of this school.
With everything said about the great teachers, I would like to take a moment and personally thank every teacher that helped us make it this far. They are: Mrs. Pacilli, Ms. Koewn, Mrs. Hennrich, Mrs. Easley, Mrs. Sherrill, Mrs. Bishop, Mrs. King, Mrs. Judge, Mrs. Revoir, Mrs. Smith, Mr. Sherrill, Mrs. Johnson, and Mr. G. They made our journey through St. Paul so much more enjoyable, fun, and meaningful. THANK YOU for that. There are also a few other people that should be mentioned: Mr. Joe for the great coaching and all the times he’s had to clean up after us; Mrs. Rickus for every scrape she’s put a band-aid on, every headache she’s medicated, and every paper she’s copied; Mrs. Woods and Mrs. Province for the numerous school lunches they have cooked for us; Mrs. Voglesang for all the times she’s had to clean up after us also, Mrs. Hovis for teaching us the value of reading, Mrs. Towler for teaching us the value of music, and Mrs. Gierse for keeping us in shape.
As we stand before you all now and we finally graduate, there is only one question left in our minds: Do we make you proud? Have we done enough, said enough, become enough to make you proud of us? Parents? Teachers? Friends and other family? Are you proud of us? This past week one song keeps playing in my mind. Some of the lyrics go like this:
I've never been the one to raise my hand,
That was not me and now that's who I am
Because of you I am standing tall,
My heart is full of endless gratitude,
You were the one, the one to guide me through,
Now I can see and I believe it's only just beginning
This what we dream about
But the only question with me now
Is do I make you proud?
Stronger than I've ever been NOW
Never been afraid of standing out
But do I make you proud?
I hope that we do make you proud. I hope that each one of the teachers that helped and encouraged us along the way are proud to say, ‘I taught those kids.’ I hope every parent in the room is able to stand tall, and stand by their children and say with pride, “This is my child. I am proud of him or her.” The same with all the friends and family members. I know we’re proud of our accomplishments and we’ve worked hard to earn them.
Our journey to this moment hasn’t always been easy. No one ever said that it would be though. Along the way we’ve had some bumps and bruises and low and hard times. But they all have on thing in common: they brought us closer. Yes, sometimes we may have fought or gotten in an argument but we always got through it. We realized what we were fighting over was a small matter, so we let it go, forgave each other, and kept moving forward. There were other times though, that hit us harder. There were some really difficult situations; both personal and as a class. At the time, the situations were awful, almost unbearable. But we all came together as a class and worked through our problems. We encouraged and comforted each other. The end result? A stronger and more mature class. Looking back today, I’m almost thankful for those hard times. Those times are what helped shape us into who we are today. Every time we overcame a problem a little piece of who we are fell into place. So, if trading those bad times for some happier times meant losing who my classmates are today…I wouldn’t do it. These people sitting here, whom I’ve grown up with, have become some amazing people. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.
So, as the year has wrapped up and we’ve come to the end, all of us eighth graders have realized just what we’ve taken for granted all these years; all of the fun activities that won’t be the same at public school such as chapel services and National Lutheran Schools Week. We’ve also begun to look back and remember all the good times we’ve experienced and how quickly all the years flew by. The things we’ve enjoyed everyday without even noticing it have become cherished events. We realize now that nothing can truly last forever. Even though we may be leaving St. Paul physically, it doesn’t mean that we’ll be leaving it emotionally. With all of the memories, experiences, life lessons, and friends we’ve made, it would be impossible to leave St. Paul all together. The people that I’ve called classmates for the past 8 years are no longer just classmates; they’re family. Even though leaving here is incredibly hard, it is inevitable and the necessary next step for us all to take.
For the kindergartners here today it is the beginning of a new chapter in their lives. For the 8th graders, it’s the end of that same chapter we began 8 years ago. But it doesn’t stop there for us. We’ll all move on to high school and begin yet another chapter. We may move into a different setting with different people but we’ll always remember St. Paul; all the things we learned, the people we met, and the memories that we made.
I pray that as we all go to high school we’ll always remember that most important thing St. Paul taught us about. I hope we never forget how much God cares about us. About how He’s always there for us. Just like it says in Isaiah 41:10, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” I hope we’ll always trust and put our faith in God. To rely on him and seek his guidance. So…congratulations St. Paul class of ’08! WE MADE IT!!!!!