Change is funny

Welcome again friends, parents, teachers, guests, and of course the class of 2022!

If it wasn’t for all of you here today, I would be alone. Alright, as we celebrate this glorious day by showing off our finest wizard costumes and our square shaped hats. Allow me to first say to all of you, congratulations! We have now completed that thing that is required of us by the government. (yeah good job) And in doing so, we are now much less likely to spend the rest of our lives in our parents’ basements.

So this is the moment we have been preparing for for the last 13 years, the day we emerge into the world, like a beautiful butterfly from its cocoon.

Or for some of us, like a person stumbling out of their room after binging a whole season on Netflix for 48 hours. Either way, we will now finally have the opportunity to make our mark.

And today we will be entering the real world armed with all the knowledge we have gained from high school to prepare us for it, like dividing polynomial equations, analyzing 18th century poetry, identifying mitochondria, you know things adults do all the time in their daily lives.

In the coming months, each one of us will be going through changes, no kids not “those” kinds of changes again, thankfully.

What I mean is that each one of us will be experiencing change in our daily lives of some kind, and while it is scary, it’s also exciting and it’s something that we’re going to have to get used to, because all things change. Remember in 4th grade how we weren’t allowed to use a calculator because no one in the real world would carry one in their pockets all the time. Or how we were told to never talk to strangers on the internet or get into cars with strangers. Well now we have a button on our special pocket calculator that summons an internet stranger specifically so we can get into their car. (Crazy right?)

Anyway, my point is that change is always happening and if we can survive going to school during a pandemic, then I think we can get through just about anything.

For most of us we will be on our own for the first time, we will be attending new classes, meeting new people, and having new experiences in our lives, always on the pursuit of new knowledge. We will have to make our own decisions, like who do I want to be, what do I want to stand for, or are these two week old leftovers still safe to eat.

We will have to pay our own bills, toast our own eggo waffles, and either learn how to do laundry or spend a lot of money on Fruit of the Loom value packs each week.

Or is that just me? Anyway, it may be difficult sometimes, but you can’t give up. You will recognize these changes and embrace them, like your weird uncle at the family reunion, not because you want to, but because it’s pretty much required.

As Charles Kettering once said, the world hates change, but yet it is the only thing that has brought progress. But then again the world hates the hiccups too and they really haven’t done anything valuable so I don’t know if that really gets my point across.

What I’m trying to say is this… In order to grow and improve as people we’re going to have to step outside of our comfort zones and try new things ever once and a while. And by doing this we will come to understand where we fail and more importantly where we thrive. Change, while not always comfortable, is necessary to success.

I’m excited to see how you’re all going to change and what kind of things you’re going to accomplish in the future. I personally have had one unforgettable government- mandated high school experience. And I am so grateful for the amazing people I have met along the way. I wish you all success and thank you. — Sam Gumz