Time Traveling Back to High School

A Look Back at Graduation in the 80s

As the world celebrates the class of 2020, my mind wandered back to my own high school graduation, over three decades ago. As luck would have it, I was cleaning up a bin of stuff recently, and found my high school scrapbook. It was something my mom had given me, a place to collect pictures of me and my friends (with our 80s style hair and clothes), tickets from events we attended, geeky stickers and quotes and basically anything that I thought was cool at the time.

In the scrapbook were three folded up pieces of paper, and to my immense surprise, it turned out that they contained the scribblings of the high school graduation speech I gave as senior class president. I hadn’t gone through that book in years, maybe a few decades, and so I immediately sat down and read through the speech.

The 17 year old kid that wrote that speech surprised me. Yes, there were the shout-outs and inside jokes (most of which I am sure landed flat), but the core of the speech was, in hindsight, surprisingly good and, I think, would apply to graduating classes today. And…perhaps to each of us at whatever stage of life we are at right now.

I shared some of the key points yesterday, here are the full paragraphs that resonated as I re-read the worn sheets of paper.

Plato stated, the life which is unexamined is not worth living. We have assembled today to honor the segment of our lives which we have completed — our high school years. I commend each member of the graduating class for making it this far and completing these last four years. We, the Senior Class of Bronson High School, are leaving behind our yesteryears and entering our own future. A future brightly sparkled, even illuminated with high hopes and aspirations. A future of unknown and undetermined things. A future of our own choice. While we have done much while here at Bronson High School, there is much that we still can do. For we have before us the entire world and with our aspirations and hopes lie our own fates and destinies.

As Theodore Roosevelt once stated, far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failures, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

We have experienced both victory and defeat, and have grown from it. It matters not if you fail, for it is better to try and fail than to fail to try. We have always tried again and made our way. Whether it be on the field, in the classroom, at work, or even in our daily lives, we have made the cut and continue to do so. For our class is ambitious, and will live life to the fullest.

Gaudeamus igitur
Iuvenes dum sumus

(Let us live then and be glad, while young life is before us)

Honestly, I’m proud of 17 year old me.

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