"Write a valedictorian essay/speech that is no longer than
1000 words. The essay/speech should fulfill two goals: it should convey a
"sending off" message to the members of a graduating class; it should
also inspire graduating students to leave the comfort and security of their
school with a full heart, ready to embark on a new adventure."
My fellow students, one day you will die! You will cease to
exist and be forever no more. Now whither you believe you shall live again
reincarnate or live beyond the pearly gates is defined by your faith. But what
we do know, without a doubt, no faith needed, is that this life will end and it
could very well be our only chance to fully experience our own consciousness.
So it is up to us to question why we fear death so much, rather, a life
unlived. Life is one in which we should strive to contemplate with wonder the
mysteries it has to offer, to feel the Joy and elation and even to reflect on
sorrow and loss. These are but branches
to the question so often asked in the stillness of our souls. What is the
meaning of life? The answer lies in the
question. Life is the meaning of life,
it’s our experiences nothing more and nothing less that make life…life. So what does all this mean to our graduating
class? Should you wish for me to regurgitate what is so often heard before?
Study hard, make good grades, get a good job and start a family.Is this what
you want to hear? I digress but only from a truth that may be true, but only in
the sense that the colors that represent our school represent us individually
to the same degree. If you ask me, Kory,
should I study hard? The answer is but self-evident but I would merely refer
you to asking a better question. The
Question to ask yourself is, what would I enjoy learning about to the degree
that studying really just becomes a combination of your curiosity fueled by passion. This response, lead by the proper question
negates the first. For you would no longer need to ask, for you are driven by
it. Life is an adventure, every day is a new opportunity to learn and soak in
experiences. Find something that is
going to keep you up at night, where you blend your reality with the dreams
that dance around on the edge your possibility. Are they one in which you need
a degree? Does it require a continuing education of brick and mortar or one of
nature and or trade? How do you define education? How do you define success?
Grade yourself not so much by the standards our society, systems or family have
set up, for they are more likely wrong in as many ways as they are right. We
need our society, systems and family but only as a context not as a rule of
objective truth for we evolve and change thus what was true in the morning will
be a lie at night and what is true at night will have been a lie in the
morning. (Wayne Dyer)Grade yourself by your own aliveness, your own joy and
happiness! We so often judge each other
by a strict set of characteristics that do not apply to the strengths in which
many of us have. Einstein once referred
to the genius in everybody, but that if you judge a fish by its ability to
climb a tree it will grow up thinking it is stupid its whole life. Do not let that become you. Take criticism
but only in the way in which Aristotle would deem the mark of an educated mind,
which is to be able to entertain a thought or idea without accepting it
outright. To do this my fellow students take time. Time may be money but money
may not be happiness or fulfillment.
Don’t be so quick to get somewhere when you’re not even sure of what you
want out of the trip. It may not be what you’re expecting, let’s just hope if
it’s not…then it’s not too late. Leo Tolstoy, a man who some considered the
soul of Russia, captured his decent into the edge of death where he had a sense
of an awakening by it; Through this transformation came a collection of short
stories written in a book. One of those stories being “The death of Ivan
Ilyich” In this story Ivan was a judge who lived in Moscow. Now one of the more important features of
this story was his relationship to his wife, who he basically hated. And he
hated because he despised his work. He felt that she had pressured him and
pushed him into this work because it was the prestigious thing to do instead of
a life of music. Reaching his end he found himself empty inside, aside from
rage and anger. Now the title of the story gives way to what is going to
happen, Ivan Ilyich dies. But as he’s
lying on his death bed, his life flickering off him, starring up at this woman
who he despised, he said allowed “What if my whole life has been wrong?” Then
he died. My fellow students as a call to action, the first chance you get when
you receive your diploma I want you to write a message to yourself as an ever
reminding goal. Dear “blank” don’t die
with your music still in you. My fellow
students have the courage to discover what success means to you by living the
life of your dreams because cowards die many times before their deaths, but the
valiant never taste of death but once.- WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Julius Caesar
I hope you were able to get something out of this, if so please leave a comment and share your thoughts!
~Kory
I hope you were able to get something out of this, if so please leave a comment and share your thoughts!
~Kory
