To the student who never understood math but read all the books in the media center.
To the girl who was never on the honor roll, but who really noticed people and befriended bus drivers, custodians, lunch ladies, and new kids.
To the boy with anxiety and depression, who forced himself onto that bus.
To the boy whose family immigrated from Mexico and didn’t speak the language yet kept coming to school.
To the girl whose single mom couldn’t help her with homework because she worked two jobs, so she solved the math problems by herself.
To the girl who grew up in the foster care system, who kept having to leave friends and intuitive teachers, but still managed to stay in school.
To the one couldn’t join the band or the school football team because his parents couldn’t afford the fees, but still found a way to learn music or to play football.
To the boy who was made fun of for eating free school breakfast and lunch but didn’t let it stop him.
To the girl whose mom had cancer, so she couldn’t concentrate in class but still turned in her work.
To the boy whose parents didn’t treat him like parents should, so school was your safe place and you never missed a day.
To the girl who earned Cs but didn’t stop studying.
To the one who loves art or acting and was just never into school but created beautiful things.
To the girl who used angry, protective behavior to cope with her hurts. Few teachers ever scratched through her bristly surface, but underneath, she listened and learned anyway.
To the boy who overcame dyslexia and learned to make meaning of words.
To the one who endured racist remarks in the halls but refused to be held down.
To the girl whose dad was in jail and never stood cheering in the stands, but she stayed in the game.
To the boy who had to work after school and had to miss dances and football games but had big school spirit.
To the girl with chronic medical needs who missed lots of class due to appointments and surgeries but kept trying to keep up.
To the boy who re-explained directions to kids next to you, and picked up handfuls of papers that nervous, unseen girls dropped, helped set-up the science lab, and paid for the kids behind him who had no lunch money. These weren’t popular things to do, but you helped anyway.
To the special needs student who couldn’t always learn with the other kids, but worked his way through IEP goals, one step at a time.
Your transcript might show no record, but you earned a 4.0 in grit, hard work, humility, and resilience, so here’s to you!
Though the certificates and scholarships might not have your name on them, you worked hard, overcame, and helped others.
That diploma of yours?
It represents all of it, so you be proud too. We applaud you
Here’s to you, too, graduate.