San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Canyon High School
These past four years have been both the longest and shortest years of my life. In ways, it feels like it was only a few months ago when I was a freshman, much younger and much less experienced than I am now. However, my high school years have also been some of the most eventful times in my life, and I expect many of you would say the same thing. I think the best way to describe my high school experience is as a journey. Every day of my life was spent working towards a goal, and once I reached that goal, I would work towards another one. Yet, as my high school years come to an end, I feel a sense of completion of my journey.
I would like to congratulate every single one of my fellow students for having finished a similar journey to get to this moment, what will for many of us become one of the most important moments in our lives. Soon, we will all be embarking on a new journey: a journey into adulthood. Although this new era in our lives will be radically different from anything we have experienced before, many of the things we have learned throughout high school will still be relevant and useful.
When most people think of school, they think about the academic things they’ve learned, from math and science to reading and history. However, this academic part of school isn’t what makes school important. A person can learn these things anywhere, whether it be in the classic
classroom setting, in online school or outside of school entirely. Still, there are many other aspects of school that can’t be replaced and necessitate human interaction. As most of you have probably realized on account of the coronavirus quarantine, school without people is a much less fruitful experience. The things we learned in virtual school were overall forgettable: those of us not going into STEM fields will likely never factor again, and those of us not going into English probably won’t ever analyze Shakespeare. But no matter where you go after high school, the inspiration you have gained in these past four years will continue to impact your life.
Of everything I have experienced in high school, I am most grateful for how my teachers have always inspired me and pushed me to pursue my passions. The most prominent example of this is how Mrs. Streger pushed me to become involved in Calculator UIL. This single event probably had the most influence on my current life out of anything else in high school. In addition to increasing my interest in math, Calculator UIL exposed me to physics for the first time, something which has become my favorite subject and my intended major. Moreover, I developed better problem-solving skills, changing the way in which I think through problems in my everyday life. In these ways, Mrs. Streger’s seemingly small action of recruiting me to her UIL team has created disproportionately large benefits in my current life. Reflecting on this has made me realize that, for students in high school, many of our experiences play an active part in shaping our lives, inspiring us and directing us towards our future life paths.
Teachers and mentors have a special role in our journey through high school, giving us the directions we need to find our way and reach the path that leads into our adult lives. It is important to realize that whoever you are and whatever you have done, you cannot have done it alone. Every day, the acts of others influence our own lives, and, to an extent, dictate our own thoughts and actions. Thus, a person’s accomplishments reflect not just a person’s own efforts, but the support of the community that surrounds him.
I would like to thank the community that surrounds me, everyone who has helped me along my high school journey: first, my UIL coaches, Mrs. Streger, Mrs. Davenport, Mrs. Sansom, Mr. Frech, and
Mrs. Parma; second, all of my teachers, who have fostered in me a love for learning; third, my orchestra director, Dr. Arambula, who has created an amazing orchestra program at our school; fourth, our counselors and administrators, who work to make our school a better place for everyone; and finally, all of my fellow students who have encouraged me along the way. All of these people have played a part in who I am today and who I will become in the future.
Graduation is a time to celebrate, but also to thank those who have helped us make it here. I request that all of you take the time over the next few days to thank those who have helped you on your high school journey, for what they have done is irreplaceable, and without them, none of us would be here today.