Mrs. Meke told me to never start an article with a dictionary definition, but it seemed only appropriate to look at the Merriam Webster site today. Graduation is the act of acceptance of an academic degree. Never have Merriam and Webster been so irrelevant. Graduation is much more than just a ceremony, it is the culmination of 12 years of work, friendships and small moments that still make us smile. The school was much more than its name suggests. It wasn't just school, it taught us so 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 a person of substance, all of which might be more important than knowing what started World War I. Before we can move on, we need to think. It's been four long years. We will cherish the good times we had here, the games, the dances, the spirit days, the lunches, the musicals, the field trips and countless other extracurricular activities. When we look back with our rosy retrospective, these are moments that we will remember, moreover, in 20 years, who will really remember the stress that their first year bio exam caused them. We all came to this school together. We were nervous, excited and scared at the same time because it was a whole new world for us. Of course, we may have been scared by the size of the building or we may have gotten lost on the first day. By the end of our four years, we had it all figured out. It's just our luck, the year we find the quickest way to every class, which room has the coldest fountain, and what's actually edible in the cafeteria, it's the year we we have to leave and start all over again. .... middle of paper ...... believe it or not, they actually care. They may show it by simply asking how your day was, arriving early or staying late to help you, doing a thousand revisions before the AP test, or letting you turn in your assignment a few days late because you lots of work to do. plate and needed some slack. There are many of you, teachers here, to whom we owe endless thanks and gratitude. It would just take too long to list you all individually and what we are grateful for, but I wanted to let you know; you make me and so many others proud to be your students. Not only have you taught us millions of facts, events and formulas, but you have also taught us about ourselves. There is an old Chinese proverb that says: “Teachers open the door, but you must enter for yourself.” » Well, you can let go of my hand today; I'm ready to walk through that door. There's nothing simpler than that.