LHS 2012 Graduation Speech: Hayley Kroger Schneider

Good evening ladies, gentleman, and fellow classmates. June 23rd. The day Japan's Iwate Prefecture experienced a 6.7 magnitude earthquake. South Africa reclaimed its seat in the U.N. Batman premiered. The David Letterman Show premiered. The first extraterrestrial message was sent from Earth into space.  The Secret Service was created. The final draft of the Declaration of Independence was submitted to Congress.

So, these events have occurred on past June 23rds and not today. However, today, June 23, 2012, we create a new significant moment in our own histories. After four years of our lives being dictated by ear-piercing bells, it's finally time to move on to the next phase of our lives. Some call it "the real world," others call it, "college: where you have unlimited access to panini and dessert bars and will never cherish your mom's home cooking in the same way again."

There will be no prom next year. No homecoming dance. No 4 x 6 card chock full of information for a final. No parents around to tell us to do our homework or clean our room. We will be thrust into the world of independence; it's time to learn what it's like to live on our own.

At first we may miss the traditions of high school and wish things were how they used to be; easy, certain, planned. But we must forge our way into the unknown, where things aren't always easy, certain, and planned. Graduating high school is the second most important milestone in our lives, according to my dad, who thinks the first milestone is when we get past the diaper phase.

F. Scott Fitzgerald said in The Great Gatsby: "Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." Wherever we may be this coming fall, it'll be just as Fitzgerald said; time for life to start over. Time to pursue our interests, pursue a new interest, or maybe pursue nothing at all because we have no idea what we want to do with our lives.

Here's the to the class of 2012. And thank goodness the world didn't end before we graduated.

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