I want you to think of three specific moments that defined your high school experience. Maybe it was making the sports team, prom night, making a new best friend, losing a friend who turned out not to be the best, getting into your dream college, or even getting rejected from your top school and realizing that somehow, your life will still turn out okay. Over these next few weeks, let’s all begin to process the memories and stories which have defined our own unique high school experience and to reminisce on the feelings of these moments and the people we shared them with. It’s the personal stories we created which make us unique, and which help shape who we are and who we are becoming.

We will all always be at the center of our own perception, experiencing the same activities through an individual lense which no one else can truly understand.

No two people’s memories from these four years will be the same. No one can tell the same high school story; herein lies our individuality. Everyone reading this has had the same experience dictated by geography, lifestyle, and curriculums, yet each of our experiences has been distinctly individual. We have all lived similar lives on paper including running from class to class with evenings composed of sports, after-school activities, homework, family obligations, and sometimes time for the occasional friend or two. We all have spent seven hours a day in the same building, but we have all become distinctly different from people from this year.

So here we are as seniors, leaving high school, preparing to step out into the real world with nothing but our stories of the past, and hopefully a bit of knowledge as well. In a few short months, many of us will be saying goodbye to friends and family as we go our separate ways, taking with us our united wisdom to shape a future world in which we will live together.  What I want everyone to remember is that these stories, despite their uniqueness, can also be what makes us one. Everyone of us has been through four years together and is therefore forever connected. There are people we pass in the halls today whom we may never see again after next week; despite this, these people will always exist within our memory. We can all think of a moment a teacher inspired us, a friend motivated us, or maybe even a stranger helped us. Additionally, we have, at times, been that person, contributing to the lives of someone else in a special and unique way only they can experience.  We are united under our time together at Hall High School and forever integrated as one Hall High community. So, when we exit and embark on the beginning of our “real lives” and adulthood, we can all look back on how everything we went through at Hall shaped us into becoming who we are and challenged us to decide who we want be.

Finally, let’s step out into the world with both courage and passion. As we enter new journeys in our lives, let’s all move forward with an optimism and eagerness to not only develop more stories of our own, but to also listen and learn from the tales of others. Backed by both the individuality and unity our anecdotes create, we can help to find a better understanding of who we are. Let’s remember both the good times and the bad times, as they equally guide us. Lastly, always remember you are the narrator of your own story and therefore you have the power to decide what is meaningful and what is not.