Senior Speech: Harmony Atkinson

Booker T. Washington once said, “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.”

Ever since freshman year, the moment a minor inconvenience happens, the first thing to come out of my mouth is “I can’t wait to graduate.” But now that I’m here, I find myself feeling so happy but sad at the same time because, as much as I wanted to graduate, it doesn't amount to the fond memories I made in high school. When you're younger, you always wish to be older, and when you're older, you wish you could turn back the time.

 This year, for me and for many others, was a year marked by great uncertainty. Uncertain of where you want to go to college or if you even want to go at all. Uncertain about your friendships and whether they’ll last past high school. Or if they’re even worth holding onto after it ends. Uncertain about who you will become and where life will eventually lead you. Following all that uncertainty comes doubt. Doubting if you will survive college, trade school, or the workplace. Doubting if taking that gap year is the best decision for you, because ‘professional gap year traveler’ doesn’t quite hit the same on a resume. 

All of that uncertainty and doubt comes from letting your fears take the wheel and steer you straight into self-sabotage. We often let our fears dictate our choices, and we start to fail before we’ve even given ourselves the chance to succeed.

Even with all of these negative thoughts and feelings, I don’t want you to believe that not having things figured out or not knowing the outcome of your choices is a negative thing. In fact, there is so much beauty in uncertainty. We are at an age where it feels like we’re expected to figure things out, but the truth is, we shouldn’t. We’re still learning, still changing, and still becoming the people we are meant to be. This is only the beginning of the first chapter of our lives. Everything about it is still shifting, still unfolding, and still capable of changing in ways we can’t even yet predict. And while that can feel overwhelming, it’s important to remember you’re not going through it alone. Every single high school graduate stands at the same edge of uncertainty. They face the same fears, doubts, and questions about who they’re going to become. The difference is not who feels it, but who keeps going anyway. Learning, stumbling, growing, and slowly turning the unknown into your own story. 

 Life is not a perfect path but a series of stepping stones. And as you walk, you build your path. Although sometimes the path will get rocky and you might fall down, you're going to get up again and keep building. Not because it’s easy, but because resilience is part of who you are. You have every reason to keep going because it is your birthright to succeed.

Now that you have made it to this stadium, sitting next to your peers, you have finally made it to the day you've been waiting for the longest. Your graduation day. You have succeeded not because you’ve made it to graduation, but because you have worked tirelessly, missed out on plans to study for that test, gone through your friend group fall-outs and makeups, making deeper connections than the last, broke off that relationship that was taking more from you than it gave you, stood up for yourself when it seemed like it was just you versus the world, won those games you thought your team couldn't, and all these obstacles which you have overcome just to sit here in your cap and gown and finally be able to tell everyone that you’ve made it. 

You’ve made it because you had the strength and will. You've made it because you could. You’ve made it because even on the hardest of days, you didn’t stop moving forward. Toni Morrison once said, “You are your best thing.” So cherish this moment, take a deep breath, and savor it, because YOU are the best thing to ever happen to you.