#9

“Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!” Dr. Seuss is typically known as a children’s book author, but if his books only apply to children, then you can just call me a kid, not a graduating senior! Dr. Seuss’ story Oh, the Places You’ll Go! has substantially influenced my life over the years, and I believe it has the capability to impact every other seniors’ life here as well. Now, I’m not trying to bash the years and years we spent reading classic literature like Shakespeare’s tragic Romeo and Juliet or Dostoyevsky’s punishing murder mystery Crime and Punishment. However, unlike those other authors, Dr. Seuss keeps it simple. No need for spark notes in this case.

Okay, so we can all admit that high school has been amazing, and being a teenager is quite the life. But, to be honest, no, the past four years were not completely perfect. I am sure that there have been times in every one of our lives where we get to this page of the story and are tempted to close the book. We hit roadblocks and moments when our lives felt so twisted that it was hard to see our way out of the tangled mess of being a teenager. For me personally, when I just couldn’t fathom how I was going to get through finals week or the countless PBA’s or whatever other mayhem was coming my way, I was still able to turn to Seuss in order to simplify the chaos in my life. Seuss says, “And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.” Finding our way out of the sea of obstacles is simply “not easily done.” Pure poetry.

As Seuss espouses, “Everyone is just waiting. No! That’s not for you! Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where the Boom Bands are playing.” Over the past four years, we have each found our own “Boom Bands.” At the high school, our “Boom Bands” include the fact that we can solve integrals and derivatives. We can write a research paper incorporating countless primary and secondary sources. We can balance a chemical equation. We can explain how the economy operates or even how the human brain functions. Maybe some of those “Boom Bands” seem simple and second nature to some of you, but given where we started, I think being able to do any of that is beyond incredible. So, you sitting on this field tonight, you have found that place where those “Boom Bands are playing.”

As the book says, “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” Throughout the past twelve years, each and every one of us used those brains in our heads to accomplish amazing things. We aced a test, we crushed a presentation, we wandered out of our comfort zones and created friendships. There are endless things to be proud of from these high school years. I’m even proud to say I survived the swim gym days when we had to sprint with sopping wet hair to our next class. With all of those accomplishments in mind, look proudly at where we are now. We have reached the finish line of a twelve-year journey. The end of school dances, of pickleball tournaments, of pasta bar Tuesdays. But the truth is, this is not the end. This is merely the beginning. This is the point where our childhoods don’t end, they simply grow. And from this moment on, I urge the Senior Class to “steer ourselves any direction we choose.”

Tonight’s ceremony is not just meant to honor every senior individually, it is meant to celebrate what the Class of 2018 has accomplished together. Side by side. For the past four years and beyond. Four years of walking through the beige halls of the high school. Four years of starting our days with the same faces. Four years of tests, projects, presentations, and especially the memories we made. We have made relationships that we will never forget, and hopefully never break. We will think back to these four years and we will remember those free mods being “shushed” in the library or dancing our hearts out to Mr. Brightside at Sadie’s. But more importantly, we will remember how we helped to steer each other to this final point.

As Seuss phrases it, “With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky.” The Class of 2018 is about to journey in so many different directions. So, whether you go into retail, or social work, support a non-profit, become a politician or even pursue a career that doesn’t exist today -- don’t look back on these four years lightly. Look at them for what they truly were. The foundation of a life you now have the power to lead.

Therefore, I challenge the Class of 2018 to continue beyond our Upper St. Clair years with one mission in common – I, along with the rest of the senior class need to approach this entirely new chapter of our lives as Seuss would expect us to. We need to fearlessly adventure into the unknown and steer ourselves to that big and bright future that we are all capable of. I implore you to steer yourselves to a future that always cherishes your years at Upper St. Clair. Together, we can move forward, while simultaneously looking back on the years spent in this township, with these same faces, growing with one another. And, finally, remark that “We’re off to Great Places! Today is our day! Our mountain is waiting. So…excuse us, we must get on our way!” Congratulations Class of 2018.