‘I sat down and worked’

To the editor:

I’m not one for long speeches, or for speech in general, really, so I’m submitting this to The Frontiersman instead.

Here we are, Burchell High graduates — at the end of the first stage of our lives, as it were. Each of us has our own story: some complex tales that could easily be turned into award-winning novels or movies; others, such as mine, simple short stories that may not be as dramatic or colorful as other tales, but still carry an important lesson to be learned or an example to follow.

I could probably sum up my entire journey through Burchell in five words: “I sat down and worked.” Despite any congratulations I get, I feel that any one of my fellow graduates deserves it more. I simply had to worry about schoolwork; they had to overcome a myriad of personal trials, and do the exact same work I did.

They all truly embody Burchell’s values of Respect, by their professional attitudes toward their teachers and peers; Responsibility, through their accomplishing all of the tasks set forth for them by their teachers and peers; and Resilience, through their ability to get through those aforementioned trials and tasks and stand here proudly as graduates. These values are not just empty school spirit words — “Yeah, us!” — but values that will help us in our real lives, from college to retirement; from our first dates to sitting on our porches as our grandkids run up and down the driveway; and from our first cashier jobs at McDonald’s to being CEOs of the world’s largest Fortune 500 companies.

So when you’re standing atop the pinnacle of your life, classmates, with all its twists and turns, I implore you to just take a moment to look back at all the hard work you put in; how you’ve grown as a person. And remember where you all began: walking in through those teal doors and into the halls of Burchell High School — because it’s there, in that moment, that you wrote the first words onto the pages that would become the many volumes of your life.

With the dreams of your childhood as the prologue and the hopes for your legacy as the epilogue, your life stories will stand as shining examples of those three values: Respect, Responsibility, and Resilience.

Congratulations to my friends and compatriots at Burchell High School. We made it!

Caleb Duckett

Burchell High School

Class of 2015