RMHS Graduation 2024
Dr. Milaschewski, Ms. Callanan, members of the school committee, teachers, family, friends and most importantly the class of 2024, it is an honor to be able to address you today. I want to thank my family, most importantly my parents and brother, friends, and teachers who have helped me get to where I am today.
Before I begin I want to take a moment to congratulate my classmates on this amazing accomplishment. It’s crazy to think that four years ago we walked through the doors of this school as nervous freshmen, and today we are graduating ready to take on all the possibilities life has ahead of us. I truly feel as a class that we have left a positive mark on RMHS, and I hope that many of you have created memories here that will last a lifetime.
To be completely honest, I considered not doing this speech because of how much I dislike public speaking. Throughout my years of school I would do absolutely anything to get out of having to give a presentation or read in front of the class. However, this year I focused on getting over that and realizing that its not really that bad. This past summer I had an experience that gave me even more of a drive to want to get up here today and give this speech. I was at a dinner with some people I had never met before and was already uncomfortable. The topic of this speech came up and I said that I was considering not doing it because of how nervous I was to speak. One of the women proceeded to question why I would ever even want to be class president if I couldn’t even give a speech. Nothing has ever stuck with me more. I constantly think about the way I was torn down at dinner that one night. I had already been trying to build up the confidence to be here in front of you all today and she made that feel impossible. I continued feeling discouraged and made myself believe that I could never get myself on a stage in front of this many people. After a while I realized that I shouldn’t let one person hold me back from doing something I wanted to be able to accomplish. Having that reaction from someone was really hard to hear. Most people had encouraging and positive reactions when the topic was brought up. I thought about this moment very frequently and her negativity ended up giving me the confidence to get up here today. That experience lit a spark in me that made me want to prove her wrong.
What I want you to take out of this story is that when people doubt you, use that to light a fire to keep you going. As I began writing this speech, I came across a quote from David Ramsey, that showed me the positive view that I could take out of the negative experience that I had. “When you’re trying to reach a goal, negative people will just bring you down. Surround yourself with the positive.”
As a class we have come across some challenges and unexpected changes such as a new principal (Definitely was a rocky start but we eventually saw eye to eye), losing “Senior Privilege” for a period of time, and almost losing our last day of school. But we didn’t let that stop us or hold us back from having the senior year that we all deserved. We ended our year with trips to bagel world and Starbucks during flex, and a fun last day of school to come together as a class one final time as high schoolers. As a class we were able to surround ourselves with the positivity and optimism of our classmates and accomplish the dreams we had for our last year here in Reading.
We’ve probably all learned by now that not everyone is going to be supportive of your dreams and ambitions. So put others’ negativity, disapproval, and doubt to use and turn it into a positive. Each and every one of you has completed amazing things in your time here at RMHS and I want you all to have the confidence to leave here and shoot for the stars and make even greater achievements. Always stick to your goals and continue to excel no matter the challenges that you may face. Because one setback is just a stepping stone to success. If you can find the passion, you can accomplish just about anything. You all have accomplished amazing things and I have no doubt you will continue making this world a better place.
To the class of 2024, never let anyone or anything hold you back from accomplishing your dreams. I can’t wait to see the amazing things you achieve. Congratulations everyone. We did it!!!!
