Jeff Fennell & Isabella MacDougall
Well Jeff, I never thought I’d be able to say this.. especially about some of us… but we officially made it. We finally survived what everyone likes to say are the “best years of our lives.”
I know, forget the age-old stories about walking barefoot through blizzards- our real bragging rights come from graduating despite living through a historic pandemic.
So Jeff, apparently we’re the Valedictorians??
Yeah… so I guess we're supposed to write a speech for that or something?
Yeahh… apparently it was supposed to be done last week. How do we even start this?
I'm not sure.. It's just crazy that we're already here graduating. Through the years leading up to this point, we have moved up from Barriere Elementary School and Neqweyqwelston and had so many classmates join us along the way. We have all changed so much and have come so far, and we can still go farther from here. Despite our excessively large grad class, which is still very small compared to most schools, we all seem so connected.
Wow, I know, I can’t believe it was already 6 years ago that we came into this school as little grade 7s, but before we could even make it through spring break, our lives as we knew them, changed drastically. COVID hit, and what they said was a week off school, turned into many many months of zoom calls and quarantine, and for some reason no toilet paper? When we finally came back we were in masks and had two three hour classes, then the masks finally went away, and we mostly returned to our normal lives- well, that is, if you consider our classroom conversations something normal.
Yeah, it really is crazy the way time flies. So, about this speech, what do we need to put in it?
Hmm, I think we should probably start the speech by thanking all of the people who have got us across the finish line.
Good point, I guess we could start by thanking everyone in the audience who have been so vital to this journey. I hope that they’ll know how important it is to us that they are there to watch us graduate.
I know right, where would we be without them? So who else do we thank in this speech?
There's so many people that have helped us get to this moment.
Hmm, we should definitely thank all of our parents and guardians, who have been our support system through it all. They sacrificed their backseats and their sanity, to drive to games, practices, tournaments… and trips to the ER, haha, classic Jer.
Yeah. They nagged us and chased us to meet our deadlines, and get those grad things done that we didn't even know about. They ran fundraisers, concessions, events, and everything in between. They have to be in 10 places at once, and somehow they always do it.
They are the ones that always believed in us, even when we didn't believe in ourselves. They are the ones that endured our yelling, stress, and doubt, but were still there to remind us that we are capable of doing anything we set our minds to.
We have inevitably given them gray hairs by doing things we definitely shouldn't be, but they are still the ones there to give us a hug when we come home at night.
We should also definitely thank all of our teachers, because they're the ones that showed up everyday, and shockingly, I don't think we even made any teachers quit…
I'm not so sure about that..
Oooh, and especially any poor unknowing substitute teachers that were hurled head first into our classes and then decided “maybe teaching isn't for me.”
We will also definitely have to thank Laura and anyone else that worked in the cafeteria.. because I know it couldn't have been easy feeding 33 growing boys.
Oh, and we of course will need to thank all of our coaches. They’re the people that taught us what discipline and commitment really means, shaping us both on and off the court or field. The time and effort they invested did not go unnoticed, and their lessons will be carried with us, for the rest of our lives.
Okay Jeff, is there anyone we’re missing?
I think we definitely will need to thank our community.
There are so many incredible opportunities that are available to us through the caring and supportive community and families that we are a part of.
We have gained skills, knowledge and life lessons. Our school and community have shaped us through the sports we played, the jobs and volunteer work we have done, and the clubs and organizations we belong to.
Our community values us, after all, we are the future.
Okay… well I think that covers the thank yous. What do we have to do next? Well, aren't we supposed to like, give the grads some advice or something?
Are we even qualified to do that? What types of things are usually said in these speeches?
Hmm, maybe something cliche like: “follow your dreams” or “live every day like it’s your last” or “everything happens for a reason”?
You mean like - “you can achieve anything you set your mind to” or “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”?
Yeahhh… exactly.
Hmm…we could.. but for some reason this just doesn’t seem to fit for this occasion.
Well, what's something that we could say that would apply to everyone? I'm not sure, some of us will go on to be welders, vets, farmers, engineers, and computer programmers, while others will spend the coming months and maybe even years, still scrambling to figure out what we want to be when we grow up.
What about kindness? Kindness is something that should be valued most in life and it isn’t the same as being nice. When you are nice, you are trying to please people. Whereas when you are kind you are doing what is right, such as showing compassion, or generosity.
You're right, and although it may get difficult to always see the glass half full, or always find the positive, there's always something to appreciate, it's just up to you to find it.
Exactly! We must treat each other with respect, and as the teachers have been telling us for the last 13 years “treat people how you want to be treated” or Mr Fielding’s favourite line (other than “10¢!”) “everybody love everybody”!
Yeah and don’t forget what Mister Rogers once said “There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second is to be kind. The third is to be kind.”
Now I guess we should start to wrap it up?
Well, aren’t we supposed to say something inspirational or some words of wisdom?
Yeah I think we are, but we’re still young, why would we be giving advice to anyone when we don’t fully know where we are in our own stories?
Well, what’s one thing that you think we should say to inspire the grads?
What about the benefits of being resilient? Our stories in the future will have highs and lows, as well as victories and setbacks, and even with the best parts of our lives ahead of us… keep going. But keep going to prove to yourself whether you're worthy, whether you're good enough, because you are worthy, you are good enough. Keep going to build endurance, and allow endurance to build strength and character and allow that to inspire others and change the world around you.
Just remember: No good story comes from things going right, the greatest gifts in life are not in the plans, they're in the detours. That's where the stories and experiences that you're going to first tell your friends, then your kids, then one day your grandkids. Enjoy things not going as planned- if you knew the ending, it wouldn't be worth the watch. So go out there, conquer the world, and don't be afraid to go off the plan. Oh , and as my mom always tells me “You can do anything, just not everything”. Find a balance in your life. Work hard, but don't work your life away. Don't let life pass you by.
Okay, so how do we finish this speech?
I guess we should make sure to say thank you again to everyone that supported and put up with us throughout our time here, but I would also like to tell them: you're welcome, for giving you the pleasure of dealing with arguably the best grad class in years, and for years to come. I don't think they’re gonna find a class with quite our sense of humour for a while…
Are we missing something?
Oh yeah:
Congratulations to our graduating class of 2025!
