Mrs. Meke told me to never start an article with a dictionary definition, but it seemed appropriate to post on the Merriam Webster site just today. Graduation is the act of acceptance of an academic title or diploma. Merriam and Webster have never been so off target. Graduation is much more than a simple ceremony, it is the culmination of 12 years of work, friendships and small moments that still make us smile. High school was more than its name suggests. It wasn't just school, it taught us much more than how to write a good essay, who laid the foundation for communism, and why we should all despise geometry proofs. High school taught us about love, life, work ethic, and how to be an important person, all things that may be more important than knowing what started World War I. Before we move forward, we need to reflect. It's been a long four years. We will treasure the good moments we have experienced here, games, dances, spirit days, lunches, musicals, trips and countless other extracurricular activities. When we look back with our rosy retrospective, these are the moments we will remember, plus in 20 years who will really remember how much stress their freshman biology exam caused them. We all came to this school together. We were a mixture of nervousness, excitement and fear because this was a completely new world for us. Sure we may have been scared by the size of the building or we may have missed it on our first day, by the end of our four years, we had it all figured out. It's just our luck, the year we figure out the fastest route to each class, which room has the coldest drinking fountain, and what's actually edible in the cafeteria, is the year we have to leave and start all over again. .... middle of paper ......believe it or not, they actually care. They might show you this by simply asking how your day went, coming in early or staying late to help you, doing a thousand reviews before the AP test, or letting you turn in your assignment a few days late because you had a lot to do. flat and needed some loosening. There are many of you teachers here to whom we owe endless gratitude and gratitude. It would simply take too long to list you all individually and why we are grateful, but I wanted to let you know; make me and so many others proud to be your students. Not only have you taught us millions of facts, events and formulas, you have also taught us about ourselves. There is an old Chinese proverb that says, “Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.” Well, today you can let go of my hand; I'm ready to walk in that door. It couldn't be simpler than this.