Salutatorian 20151
Good evening, Mr Loughlin, Mr.Armstead Dr. Bilal, our vice Principals, special guests, faculty, parents, family, friends and my fellow class of 2015. Tonight we are all brought together to celebrate the last four years of our lives. The days that seemed to never end now appeared to have flown by. As I stand before you I ask one question, how do you measure the time you've spent in high school? In the beginning, we measure it in forty five minute class periods, counting the minutes until 3:30 when we would be set free. As the days and weeks passed, we started to measure time in marking periods, and as we moved on from being those clueless freshmen, to becoming sophisticated sophomores who thought they had it all figured out, we measured it by the grade levels we had left to complete. By the time we reached our junior year, we were confident that we were prepared to take over for the graduating seniors, and we couldn't wait to, as we say, "dominate the school."
I know now as I look out at all of you, high school wasn'tjust about the days remaining. The measurement of high school is about the friendships and memories we have developed along the way. And now as many of our high school memories begin to fade, what will remain are the memories of the people who encouraged us to aspire to succeed. . I remember the constant stories of Florzack’s Automotive Technology class who test each year to earn their ASE certificates or Ms. Cielski’s cosmetology crew practicing their skills just before the state board exam, or Mrs. Rogers health technology and Chef Povinelli’s students who stressed themselves to a different planet just so they can receive their Medical Assistant certifications or ServSafe certificate.
Then there were the times that we all came together and made the best out of what we had, such as cheering at pep rallies to show that the seniors would rule the school. The memory of strutting our stuff across the red carpet during Spirit Week. Or maybe the constant volleyball battle between classes to see who earned true bragging rights. Sometimes when we all gathered together we had to restrain ourselves and truly focus on the task at hand but that's not always easy when you put a bunch of classmates together with a hose, in hopes of fundraising by washing cars. At the end of the day these are the memories that we measure our time in high school with, not by the periods or semesters or years, but through the friendships that we have made. We could work hard and have fun at the same time.
At this moment in time we are no longer children of high school with a planned path to follow. We are now adults in the world who must create their own path.Thankfully though we all have had a positive high school experience for which we should be extremely grateful. When we came to Piscataway Tech we made the decision to leave the comfort zone of our community high schools and our neighborhood friends to place ourselves in an entirely new atmosphere. By coming to Piscataway Tech we each have had an experience in a trade of our choosing and have developed skills that we will have for the rest of our lives. Now, not only will we graduate with a high school diploma but some marketable tools in a field of our choice. That is not only a reason for our peers to be proud of us but for ourselves to be proud as well.
To our teachers, thank you for so unselfishly sharing your time, talent and knowledge with us. Yes, we know it was your job to do it, but what you did for us went beyond the call of duty. You took the time to explain assignments, sometimes repeatedly because we weren't paying attention; and if you were Mr. Leonardis and we still chose not to listen you would force us to by threatening” a five to ten page paper worth five test grades”. Or maybe you were Mrs. Henderson who presented us with a 297 paged packet to put in our 3 ringed binder during the first week of school and said “this will be all the papers you will receive throughout the year” but still managed to give us several extra smaller packets. During our junior year we entered the dreadful HSPA prep mode when we would continuously write, write, writeto be prepared. You as teachers demanded excellence from us whether or not we wanted to give it. You set the bar high and challenged us to live up to it. Although we sometimes dreaded it, we also thank you.
To our parents, thank you for supporting us in more ways than it is possible to count. Along our journey you dragged us out of bed each morning, and made sure we were fed and clothed ready for school. You pushed us out the door to the bus stop or drove us to school yourselves.You helped us with homework, and listened to our petty complaints. You supported us at our sports or club events and attended our back to School Nights even though you might not have wanted to and for these efforts we thank you. Nonetheless these are just a few of the thousands of ways you've supported us on our journey.
To our principals, vice principals and all the office staff, you gave us rules to follow, we thank you for keeping things running smoothly, so we could focus on our learning. To our guidance counselors, thank you for listening and trying to keep us on the right track for graduation. Thanks to your guidance we are graduating today, and some of us will be attending college to continue our education.
And I would like to thank the class of 2015, family, friends, guardians, faculty, district administration and special guests for giving me the opportunity to stand before you and say some words of my own. And with that I congratulate everyone before me for making it this far and achieving this great accomplishment, we have finally taken a step into the real world. Like Dr. Seuss once said, "You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And you are the one who’ll decide where to go.” Thank you and have a great night.