The End of the Beginning
Ladies, gentlemen, and seniors,
I solemnly promise, as King Henry the VIII allegedly promised each of his wives, "Don't worry, I won't keep you long."
Firstly, I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to be a part of this celebration because today is, indeed, a very special day for all of us falling asleep on stage. Today is the day when our “if we ever graduate desperations” which later progressed to “when we graduate fantasies” finally turn into “now that we’ve graduated ambitions”. No more drooling on common room sofas, surviving on caffeine drips, conveniently letting deadlines blend into each other until one fateful Sunday night because we are finally shedding our label of ‘high school students’.
High school is where I learnt real skills that I can apply throughout the rest of my life…procrastinating and rationalizing. But it is also where I made lifelong friends and found a home away from home amongst the UNIS family. Due to our international upbringing, it is necessary to acknowledge not only everyone at UNIS but also those who are not present in this room but have added to our lives at some point in time. Parents, thank you for not giving up on us through the uncountable progress reports and mood swings – we might be unsure of where we’re going but we’ll never forget who we are and where we came from.
This moment then, is the comparative conclusion of our childhood, the first phase of our lives and thus, our most significant milestone to date. But what really is graduation? Some say it's proof of the freedom we will soon experience, whilst others say it's the end of the best years of our lives – for some it's when we're forced to grow up and become adults and for others, its just another day and reason for partying. Then there are the typical clichés of the opening of a new door or taking another step on the never-ending ladder of life. Basically, everyone has a different opinion, but there's one question on the back of all our minds. And that question is: What's next?
"Show me your friends, and I'll show you your future." If this proverb has any shred of truth to it, I am looking forward to my future. We might have experienced torture in the form of extended essays, happiness which sprung from study blocks more commonly known as free periods, and more tragedy and success than Mrs. Penrose’s Shakespeare performances, but we have always done so together. For this, I’d like to thank and congratulate my senior class for here is one event that we cannot procrastinate any longer, because we did it!
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