We’re ready to make our dreams come true

In the wise words of Mr. Harris, “Good Morning Everyone!” I hope I’m not out of place by saying this. Applaud as you will. No more high school, unless you’re not a senior and you’re attending, in which case you should probably be at home doing something. You have school tomorrow.

Let us take a moment to reflect on four years: we survived, for better or worse, three assistant principal changes, the loss of free lunch periods, Harrison’s baldness, Mr. Winter’s attempt at growing hair, Gorman’s lectures, Mr. Fry’s eyebrow, Zimmer’s ‘you’re going to succeed at life’ speeches, a failing roof, The Great Gatsby, Huck Finn, Shakespeare, and wonderful Mr. Bonn. (For those that don’t know Mr. Bonn, I’m pretty sure he killed a bear with nothing but his hands.)

We survived essays, commentaries, Dante, calculus, kinematics, genetics, semester projects, the Greeks, the Romans, Egyptians, and Persians. We survived metal bleachers, all-nighters, ringwormy wrestling mats, Meet the Spartans, The Miracle of Life, Supersize Me, dance regulations, dress code violations, the stink of locker rooms, all while basking in the glory of the finest food taxpayers, like yourselves, could offer.

But I should not stray from the true purpose of the evening, that is to say, congratulating ourselves. We deserve a pat on the back for all the days we didn’t fall asleep while reading Kant or Berkeley, The Federalist Papers, or The Grapes of Wrath. We deserve a break from the lectures, color-marking, and college searching.

I know I need a nap.

But in the true essence of a graduation speech, I would be remiss if I did not mention our futures. The challenges that we face are that of which the world has never seen: the population explosion, food shortages, wars, genocide in Darfur, and the world-wide economic meltdown. Never before has an internationalist viewpoint been completely necessary. Never before have we faced outlandish college prices, health care and insurance fees, and gas prices.

Never before has our Constitution been threatened, nor our way of life threatened our own way of life. It is not just some mundane, philosophic and political ideology that we idly stand by. We are interconnected in a way never before imagined. As graduates, it is not our job, but our duty to remember that. This class has the chance to be leaders on a world-wide stage. Not as some half-way talented act opening for the greatest band in the world, but as the greatest band in the world.

As a joke some friends of mine made some shirts during volleyball season, you know who you are, saying, “It’s your time to shine!” for all the senior volleyball players. But as we departed high school last Friday, and more importantly, here tonight, it is our time to shine. It must be our time to shine. And further, if we don’t shine, nobody may get the chance to shine.

I’m Kevin Priestley, and that’s why I’m running for office!!!

Palmer High School Class of 2009, it is my honor to say that we’ve made it!!! We are ready to be the best band in the world, we are ready to shine. We are ready to go places that our wildest dreams didn’t think possible, we are ready to succeed.

Thank you.