Final goodbyes

Good Afternoon everyone, classmates, teachers, families, and friends.

Today, as we sit here in caps and gowns, I’m reminded of something strange: when I was younger, I thought graduation would feel like the final chapter of a story. You know, the kind where everything wraps up with a neat little bow, like a movie fade-out. But instead, it feels like the opposite, like we’ve just cracked open the first page of a brand-new book, and the pages are still unwritten. That’s exciting… and a little terrifying.They say to follow your dreams. 

But if we’re honest, that advice can feel a bit like chasing fireflies, beautiful, magical, and really hard to catch. We’ve all had moments where we reached for something and missed. Moments where we studied all night and still bombed the test. Or put our hearts into something like a friendship, a team, a performance and it didn’t turn out the way we hoped. And here’s the thing: we’re supposed to fail sometimes. It’s in those moments of failure that we grow the most. Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s the soil it grows from. Like a tree that needs a storm to strengthen its roots, we need failure to find out who we are.

I remember in sophomore year, I took a huge history test that I studied so hard for. I walked into that room thinking I had it,  total hubris right? I was so sure I’d nailed it. And then… I got a one. Not even close. That day, I learned more about myself than I had from any other achievement: I learned how to take rejection with grace, how to lift up the people who did succeed, and how to come back stronger, redo my test and pass. 

Life isn’t a straight path, it’s more like a winding road with unexpected turns, missed exits, and weird detours that somehow lead to the best views. It’s ironic, actually, how sometimes the thing we thought was a disaster becomes the very thing that sets us free.Let me paint a quick picture: Imagine we are all artists, standing in front of blank canvases. Some of us already have a sketch. Others have no idea what we’re about to draw. But the important thing is, we hold the brush.

 Every failure, every risk, every brave decision adds color, it adds depth, it adds truth. So as we leave this chapter of our lives, let’s not be afraid to mess up. Let’s chase dreams that scare us. Let’s let go of being perfect and hold on to being real. Let’s make bold choices and, when needed, bold mistakes. And most of all let’s remember that even when we fail, we are still writing a story worth reading. Congratulations, Class of 2025 your story is just beginning.

“Not a great day for my tech. My Nokia #Lumia 1020 no longer saves pics or vids and now seems to be saying it’s final goodbye…” by Arne Hulstein is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.