Cornerstone Christian Schools

Good evening. Thank you, Micah, not only for your encouraging words, but also for being an awesome friend throughout high school. Thank you to the administration, staff and teachers that have made tonight possible.

Thank you, Pastor Hagee, whose vision and faithfulness has ultimately resulted in our gathering today. Thank you, Governor Abbott, for your leadership and company tonight. Thank you mom, thank you papá, for being godly parents and for making servant leadership the norm in our lives and in our family. Thank you, Juan, for being an incredible example, a true brother’s keeper, and the best older brother I could ask for. Muchísimas gracias a mi abuelita, abuelito, tías, tíos, primas, y primos por sus oraciones y el apoyo durante mis años de secundaria. To all the parents, thank you for being your children’s first teachers and for your bravery in sending your kids to school in person. I don’t have time to thank everyone who deserves it, and if I could

give a shout out to every single one of my teachers and friends, I sure would.

I would like to begin with one of my favorite stories, and it concerns renowned detective Sherlock Holmes and his noble assistant Dr. Watson. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson decide to go on a camping trip. After dinner, they lay down for the night, and go to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.

“Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.” Watson replied, “I see millions of stars.”

“What does that tell you?” Watson pondered for a minute. “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you, Holmes?”

Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke: “Watson, you bonehead. Someone has stolen our tent!”

During the past year and a half or so, many of us have had our proverbial tents stolen from us. In December of 2019, many of us thought things would change after the year 2020. After all, such an aesthetically pleasing number as 2020 can only mean that a bright future is ahead, right?

As it turns out, things did in fact change after that year, only not in any way that we or even “The Simpsons” could have predicted. If one were to consider the COVID-19 pandemic alone, 2020 would go down as a pivotal year in human history. And that’s before considering the many other challenges our nation and world endured.

Such were the times during which the class of 2021 entered their senior year. In the words of the great Coach Dykes, those were the “cards we were dealt.”

Even so, my class is hardly full of quitters. I’ve always known this about my classmates, but this year has been a prime opportunity for them to demonstrate their resilience. We managed, despite the circumstances, to pretty much have the best senior year possible. We “Never Gave Up,” and we “Never Surrendered.”

Josué Molina is the valedictorian of the class of 2021 at Cornerstone Christian Schools. He was a National Merit finalist, a 2020 College Board National Hispanic Scholar, and a 2019 Poetry Out Loud finalist. He was recently accepted to Harvard.