Life lessons

Good evening, Superintendent Sullivan, School Board President Fleegel, Principal Lybert, Vice Principal Guden, family, friends, classy ladies, fellow students, staff, John Zuleger, Brian Hallgren, Corey Dassow, Don Everhard, Aemus Balsis, Jodi Nurnberger, Steve Deml, and Kurt Werner A.K.A. K-Dog A.K.A. Dad. Please do not ground me for saying that in front of this many people. For those of you who do not know me, that is very surprising for how much I talk. My name is Afton Werner, and I am the senior Class President, which was a complete accident. Turns out if you make a joke about becoming the Class President when the kid who was running drops out the night before *cough cough* Logan Kawa *cough cough*, the school takes you up on your socalled “offer.”

To begin my speech, I want to recognize one of our classmates who cannot be here with us tonight. I would like to take a few moments of silence to honor our classmate, Weston Rogers. He passed away our junior year. ________________. Thank you. In his honor, we left an empty seat with a flower.

To begin the more upbeat part of my speech, I first want to say congratulations to Medford Senior High’s Class of 2024. As Mr. B. says, “Let’s flipping go!” As a class, we have “locked in” and made it through COVID, drug checks (well I should say at least some of us did), and so many other things. This is our last moment together, so soak it up, take it in, and enjoy it. Our lives are changing faster than ever. We have experienced many lasts this year. Some of us stepped on the court, field, diamond, track, mat, or ice for the last time this year. We had our last first day of school. Our last homecoming and spirit week. Our last prom. And today we had our last last

day of school. Soon, we will be experiencing many firsts. Something I learned is that life is just one big lesson, and that is why whenever we were trying to tell our parents a story, they turned it into a lecture. The lessons I have been taught used to make me feel frustrated. I wasn’t the one who did what they were telling me about, so why should I listen? Now, I have realized it is because they were trying to teach us what they had learned the hard way. It does not matter where you came from in life. It does not matter how good things are around you. Eventually, something bad will happen, and you cannot control when or what that thing is. So, here are some things I have been taught through my parents’ life lessons. The first thing I remember being taught was not to eat yellow snow. That is a big one. Now for the actual life lessons. You cannot change people. People are who they are. No matter how much you beg them to change, no matter what you threaten them with, no matter your relationship with them, they will not change unless they want to. Do not waste your time on someone who does not want to change. If you cannot change something, do not worry about it. If there is nothing you can do, you cannot put stress on yourself. It will damage you in the end, and life will go on. Nothing stops around you because of this situation you are experiencing, so take what it is and roll with it. Take risks. You have to take a risk to see a result. As Mark Zuckerberg said, “The biggest risk is not taking a risk.” I’m trying to make sure parents are listening with that quote. I know all of you guys love Facebook. Love yourself because if you can’t love yourself, no one will. Don’t care about who doesn’t care about you. If you do, their opinions will destroy you. Believe in God. God will care for you. Put your trust in God, and he will handle the rest. Stay humble but don’t become too humble, otherwise, you will disappear. You won’t make everyone happy, and that is okay. And now, my final life lesson, say yes.

The summer before our senior year, I made the decision to say yes. One word that is so simple completely changed my life. I wanted to do as many things as possible this year. I said yes to every opportunity I could and ran with them. I went to football games, hung out with friends, took my brother places, and bought my sister things. Things that might seem so simple to everyone else here have completely changed my life. I am extremely grateful I did this. This year has been very hard for me, but each time I said yes, I gained a little bit more happiness in my life. I said yes to making so many new friends and new experiences. Saying yes to all the good things also comes with saying yes to responsibilities. Taking responsibility for not throwing the Poptart box out when you didn’t realize you emptied it (sorry Mom) to admitting you messed up and need help (sorry Dad). As you can tell based on my last sentence, my dad is my “call” person. When something goes wrong, he is the person I call. Whether I need a note for the school because I was gone or because my clutch gave out 20 minutes from home, he always picks up. Whether it be on the first ring or the 30th because he was busy. I just want to say thank you to my dad because he has always been the calm in my life. Even when I messed up, he has always been as calm as he could be with me. I did not have a good childhood, and my dad saved me from it. My dad adopted me, so I would be safe and I am so extremely grateful for that. I would also like to say thank you to him and everyone else who has been in my support system throughout my life.

To end my speech, I just want to remind you guys that we are all just some “homegrown” Medford kids. Congratulations to Medford’s Class of 2024. — Afton Werner