My dear fellow students, we made
it! We stand here today at the cusp of something great. The last four
years were an adventure that began, and are now ending, here in
Thalassa Stadium. Our freshman year started off with a bang, or
rather an almost bang.
As small freshman we scurried onto this very field both slightly
scared but also excited at the prospect of missing class after our
first, yes first, bomb threat. Things calmed down from there, or so
we thought.
Although as upperclassmen we tend
to tease freshmen, we can't forget the quiet victory we ourselves
felt when successfully making it up the freshman hill before class
started – that was truly a feat, and the closest thing to hazing
that is legal. While the freshman hill may have been the bane of our
existence at the time, our journeys were just beginning. The journey
continued in sophomore year where we experienced lower campus in full
force and dealt, for the first but certainly not the last time,
drum-line following us in the halls as we awkwardly moved out of the
way.
Last year, we partook in another
lockdown and the creation of the much dreaded tardy sweeps. For the
guests that don't know, tardy sweeps are the perfect excuse to laugh
at fellow peers from the safety of the classroom as they run to their
next period in fear of being late and receiving Friday school as
cheesy music plays over the intercom.
When I was reflecting on this
past year, six words came to mind, “Mom, will you call me out?”
All joking aside, this is the year that defined us as the Class of
2015. As seniors, we experienced some of the best and worst moments
high school had to offer riddled with terrible loss but also
wonderful successes. This past April, we suffered the loss of one of
our fellow students, Saylor Voris. And in the following month, we
suffered the loss of our beloved English teacher, Ms. Robin
Satterlee. There is another member of San Clemente High School whose
absence is notably felt. Michael Halt, our principle for the past two
years, is not here to witness this momentous day. His abrupt
departure has turned San Clemente High School into the UC Berkley of
high schools as we've made it clear that “We like Mike.” The
situation has been difficult and confusing, but has yielded important
discussions both inside and outside of the classroom. Through all
these events, our senior class has subtly transitioned from students
to members of the community. With the help of parents, teachers,
administrators, and staff over the past four years we can confidently
leave this field today with the assurance that we will go out into
the world as informed, conscious citizens.
A lot of people are eager to say
that the four years we spend in high school don't mean much, that
it's “just high school.” High school is where we begin to shape
the rest of our lives and more specifically where we begin to shape
who we are as people. This is where we learn teamwork from sports,
this is where we learn loyalty from built and burned friendships,
this is where we learn ethics from turnitin.com. That is what we take
with us when we leave here today. That is what makes us the Class of
2015. That is what makes us San Clemente High School. I'm honored to
be apart of more than “just a high school” and the wonderful
community that stands behind it. And so, it is with great pleasure
that I say to you on the field where it all began, my fellow
graduates, congratulations.
