Noah Berghammer: Everyone’s story deserves to be heard
Good evening and welcome. Thank you for being here to celebrate the incredible achievement of these 457 students in front of me. I understand it is commencement protocall to start with a quote from an outdated source spoken by an outdated person so that the audience may think I am equipped to be the speaker today. My apologies though, I’ve never enjoyed coloring in the lines.
So Instead, I will start with this: 2018 grads, can you believe it? Tonight we finish up the last chapter in our book called adolescence. And in a few short months we will start penciling in our rough draft of adulthood.
Earlier this year, I had the privilege to attend a function at the Overture Center in Madison called the Power of Story, and it got me thinking. As my mind began to wander, I started to think about the topic of stories more thoroughly, past the words on pages, past the book covers, and onward to people.
I didn’t really understand this concept prior to stepping foot into Craig; however, as I began to meet new people and expand my horizons I started to. As you walk down the hallways; senior, 700, etc, you see those stereotypes come alive. Jocks, nerds, preps, the music wing right? You get the gist.
Who looks to go deeper though? Who opens up the book and doesn’t judge by its cover?
It became apparent to me that each and every person in this building had their own story, their own insecurities, and their own battles.
My appreciation and fascination grew for these people around me. 2018 graduates, I don’t know all of you, but I promise you that in more ways than you think our stories are connected.
As I look back on my time at Craig, and brainstorm to when I truly felt connected, one certain class sticks out to me: room 608, English 11 with Mrs. Haberkorn. We were reading Frederick Douglass’ well known slave abolitionist narrative.
We had an interesting situation with a sub the day before, but I won’t get into that. Mrs. Haberkorn asked us how we felt about the book and how the sub treated the words on the pages.
To my surprise, a classmate of mine who typically had his headphones in, hood up, and sat quietly was the first to speak on the topic. It sparked a lively and heartfelt discussion, and everyone began to contribute.
The room was full of life, like I’d never seen before. People who had barely spoken before were now talking of their roots and telling their own story.
I was blown away. I don’t know if it stuck with anyone else the way it did with me, but it was one of the most beautiful moments that I have ever experienced. If you were in room 608 that day, you felt something truly special. And I say special because it’s not every day that you get to take a step in somebody else’s shoes and see what their life is like, and it’s most definitely not every day that somebody allows you to take a step into their shoes and see what their life is like.
I was fortunate to have that experience that day. What’s funny to me is that I learned more about my classmates in one period than an entire year, or two. My appreciation and respect for those amazing human beings grew big and wide that day, and I thank those who were a part of that.
I found out that a simple hello or remembrance of a name goes a lot further than most people think. It develops a mutual respect between you and that person, and that is HUGE.
Ladies and gentlemen in front of me tonight, I urge you to get out of your comfort zone as you move forward in your life. Hop off the pages of your own story and say hello to the person you pass on the subway or that person you sit next to in your 300 person lecture. Get to know them. Find common ground. Who knows? You might change their life in some way and you may cause a ripple effect on them to do the same for someone else.
The power of story.
Grads of 2018, your stories are so powerful. In whatever ventures you aspire to pursue, understand this: your voice, your words, and your actions CAN make a difference in this world. Big or small, we have the ability to collaborate and to share our stories amongst each other to reach a greater good.
As I stand before you tonight, in my cap and gown with a story to tell, all I see in front of me is beautiful faces with endless possibilities. Ladies and gentlemen, look around. Goodness is radiating off you. Be proud of who you are, and who you are yet to become.
Dear 2018 grads, you all have a story. Stay true to that story as you move forward and march on, but know, too, that stories develop. They change.
Your story isn’t written yet. The beauty is that you get to write your story. Make sure your voice is heard. Do something that you are passionate about and do it to the best of your abilities.
Now, turn the page, pick up your pencil or crayon or whatever you choose and continue write your powerful story!
So Instead, I will start with this: 2018 grads, can you believe it? Tonight we finish up the last chapter in our book called adolescence. And in a few short months we will start penciling in our rough draft of adulthood.
Earlier this year, I had the privilege to attend a function at the Overture Center in Madison called the Power of Story, and it got me thinking. As my mind began to wander, I started to think about the topic of stories more thoroughly, past the words on pages, past the book covers, and onward to people.
I didn’t really understand this concept prior to stepping foot into Craig; however, as I began to meet new people and expand my horizons I started to. As you walk down the hallways; senior, 700, etc, you see those stereotypes come alive. Jocks, nerds, preps, the music wing right? You get the gist.
Who looks to go deeper though? Who opens up the book and doesn’t judge by its cover?
It became apparent to me that each and every person in this building had their own story, their own insecurities, and their own battles.
My appreciation and fascination grew for these people around me. 2018 graduates, I don’t know all of you, but I promise you that in more ways than you think our stories are connected.
As I look back on my time at Craig, and brainstorm to when I truly felt connected, one certain class sticks out to me: room 608, English 11 with Mrs. Haberkorn. We were reading Frederick Douglass’ well known slave abolitionist narrative.
We had an interesting situation with a sub the day before, but I won’t get into that. Mrs. Haberkorn asked us how we felt about the book and how the sub treated the words on the pages.
To my surprise, a classmate of mine who typically had his headphones in, hood up, and sat quietly was the first to speak on the topic. It sparked a lively and heartfelt discussion, and everyone began to contribute.
The room was full of life, like I’d never seen before. People who had barely spoken before were now talking of their roots and telling their own story.
I was blown away. I don’t know if it stuck with anyone else the way it did with me, but it was one of the most beautiful moments that I have ever experienced. If you were in room 608 that day, you felt something truly special. And I say special because it’s not every day that you get to take a step in somebody else’s shoes and see what their life is like, and it’s most definitely not every day that somebody allows you to take a step into their shoes and see what their life is like.
I was fortunate to have that experience that day. What’s funny to me is that I learned more about my classmates in one period than an entire year, or two. My appreciation and respect for those amazing human beings grew big and wide that day, and I thank those who were a part of that.
I found out that a simple hello or remembrance of a name goes a lot further than most people think. It develops a mutual respect between you and that person, and that is HUGE.
Ladies and gentlemen in front of me tonight, I urge you to get out of your comfort zone as you move forward in your life. Hop off the pages of your own story and say hello to the person you pass on the subway or that person you sit next to in your 300 person lecture. Get to know them. Find common ground. Who knows? You might change their life in some way and you may cause a ripple effect on them to do the same for someone else.
The power of story.
Grads of 2018, your stories are so powerful. In whatever ventures you aspire to pursue, understand this: your voice, your words, and your actions CAN make a difference in this world. Big or small, we have the ability to collaborate and to share our stories amongst each other to reach a greater good.
As I stand before you tonight, in my cap and gown with a story to tell, all I see in front of me is beautiful faces with endless possibilities. Ladies and gentlemen, look around. Goodness is radiating off you. Be proud of who you are, and who you are yet to become.
Dear 2018 grads, you all have a story. Stay true to that story as you move forward and march on, but know, too, that stories develop. They change.
Your story isn’t written yet. The beauty is that you get to write your story. Make sure your voice is heard. Do something that you are passionate about and do it to the best of your abilities.
Now, turn the page, pick up your pencil or crayon or whatever you choose and continue write your powerful story!
Camila Pereira: Don’t cry because it is over; smile because it happened
Good evening ladies and gentlemen.
My name is Camila Pereira, and I am an exchange student from Bolivia.
Although I am nervous as I stand here this evening, I am also grateful that I have the opportunity to share my experiences with you all.
This year was one of the most important in my life. I am leaving Craig High School with the best memories of my life! My experience at Craig was a big part of my exchange, and I am so fortunate to have been able to spend time in Janesville, Wisconsin, as it provided me the opportunity to meet new friends, family, and teachers.
I was also able to experience the four seasons and see how the weather can change dramatically in a short time.
Your memories at Craig began your first week when as a freshman when you used to be late to class because you were lost in some random place at school or the eight million conversations with our counselors to ask for change of schedules because everything was new and you just wanted to try new things and of course have fun.
Well, I can tell that I had this experiences as a senior and all of these memories drove me to a main point, where one day I realized how much Craig became part of me and I became part of it too.
During my first month here I understood a lot of simple things that taught me life lessons.
One of the most important was one day that I was walking to my next class and in the middle of a bunch of people being squeezed in the hallways. I saw one of the senior paintings with the phrase “Don’t cry because is over, smile because it happened.”
I felt something special at that moment, and I thought a lot about it. I realized that this was my senior year and I had only one year to make the best memories of my life. I realized that at that moment I had just 230 days to make people remember me as one smile at some point in their lives.
Sometimes we forget to live in the present because we are more focused on the future, rather than what we are living now.
Time is like a trip in which we are all travelers.
All of us have a different destiny, and each one chooses how to get there. Enjoy the ride, and you will love the end.
During our years in high school, as a freshman we just wanted to be senior and get over it. This is the oldest history in the world. One day you’re seventeen and planning for someday, and then quietly, without you even really noticing, someday is today, and that someday is yesterday and this is your life.
I’m convinced that junior year is like the Thursday night of high school, the beginning of the end.
Today I want everyone close the door to the past, open the door to the future, take a deep breath, step on through and start this new chapter that is waiting with adventures, new experiences and a lot of knowledge.
I wish my fellow graduates the best ride! I hope that someday I can have fortune to find you somewhere and see how successful you are.
Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in our heart. And now I can tell how lucky I am to have something that makes me say goodbye so hard. Thank you to all of you for leaving a part of you in my journey.
My name is Camila Pereira, and I am an exchange student from Bolivia.
Although I am nervous as I stand here this evening, I am also grateful that I have the opportunity to share my experiences with you all.
This year was one of the most important in my life. I am leaving Craig High School with the best memories of my life! My experience at Craig was a big part of my exchange, and I am so fortunate to have been able to spend time in Janesville, Wisconsin, as it provided me the opportunity to meet new friends, family, and teachers.
I was also able to experience the four seasons and see how the weather can change dramatically in a short time.
Your memories at Craig began your first week when as a freshman when you used to be late to class because you were lost in some random place at school or the eight million conversations with our counselors to ask for change of schedules because everything was new and you just wanted to try new things and of course have fun.
Well, I can tell that I had this experiences as a senior and all of these memories drove me to a main point, where one day I realized how much Craig became part of me and I became part of it too.
During my first month here I understood a lot of simple things that taught me life lessons.
One of the most important was one day that I was walking to my next class and in the middle of a bunch of people being squeezed in the hallways. I saw one of the senior paintings with the phrase “Don’t cry because is over, smile because it happened.”
I felt something special at that moment, and I thought a lot about it. I realized that this was my senior year and I had only one year to make the best memories of my life. I realized that at that moment I had just 230 days to make people remember me as one smile at some point in their lives.
Sometimes we forget to live in the present because we are more focused on the future, rather than what we are living now.
Time is like a trip in which we are all travelers.
All of us have a different destiny, and each one chooses how to get there. Enjoy the ride, and you will love the end.
During our years in high school, as a freshman we just wanted to be senior and get over it. This is the oldest history in the world. One day you’re seventeen and planning for someday, and then quietly, without you even really noticing, someday is today, and that someday is yesterday and this is your life.
I’m convinced that junior year is like the Thursday night of high school, the beginning of the end.
Today I want everyone close the door to the past, open the door to the future, take a deep breath, step on through and start this new chapter that is waiting with adventures, new experiences and a lot of knowledge.
I wish my fellow graduates the best ride! I hope that someday I can have fortune to find you somewhere and see how successful you are.
Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in our heart. And now I can tell how lucky I am to have something that makes me say goodbye so hard. Thank you to all of you for leaving a part of you in my journey.
Anna Slatter: The future seems scary, but we’ll figure it out
Hello everyone: CHS faculty, families, fellow graduates. My name is Anna Slatter, and for those of you know don’t know me, I was the one who let you copy my Psych applications earlier this year.
I want to first thank all the families here today, especially the siblings of the graduates. We know you’re bored, so just hang in there. Next, of course, Craig teachers and administrators. I’m sure you’re surprised to see a few of us in the crowd today.
Most importantly though, I’d like to give a big shout out to the underclassman I paid to write this for me, really couldn’t have done it without you.
And finally, I would like to thank the entirety of the class of 2018. I’ll be sure to keep it short so that the afterparty can start on time.
I want you guys to think of the reason you’re here. For me personally, it was because Michelle Chung was too busy to write a better speech than me in this timeframe.
But really, I want you to think of why you are sitting here. Why you deserve this. It may seem like graduation is just the inevitable next step, the last hurrah before you move onto bigger, better things. But this is more than simply an obligation or rite of passage. This is the validation from all the accumulated effort you’ve put in over the past thirteen long, oftentimes painful but mostly pretty okay, years.
I’ll spare you the cliche of comparing this to a finish line or a mountain summit, but think of everything you’ve done to get yourself here. Every homework assignment, late but still turned in, every hour of studying, then test, then corrections, then retake, it all amounted to right now, this moment. It all got us here.
For the past thirteen years, you’ve dedicated your life to this, to school, to your education. And it can be daunting to grasp the gravity of graduation, what it actually means for our futures. We’ve spent basically our entire lives within the classroom, surrounded by virtually the same people, doing the same routine over and over again, and now that’s over.
Now, we move on. We get better, smarter, more capable of functioning in the outside world, in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Now we’ve got to prove our place in this new part of our lives. And in all honesty, that’s really fricken’ terrifying.
We’ll put up a good front for the graduation party and the flood of questions we’ll get from every person above the age of twenty-three we’ll see in the next few months, but we don’t actually have any idea of how this next chunk of our lives, and everything afterwards, will pan out. We’ve gotten pretty good at pretending to know what’s going on, but in all honesty, we have absolutely no idea of what will happen. We’re still learning, taking everything that has been instilled into us since our first days at CHS and before and applying it to this new world of college or the military or workforce or whatever else we have planned.
But if there’s one thing that I know about the class of 2018, it’s that we’ll figure it out. We may not know what to expect now, but we’ll learn and adapt, until our nerves and growing apprehension we’ve harboured right now seem a bit ridiculous in hindsight.
We’ll grow into our new roles, and we’ll keep getting better and better, creating full and enriching lives for ourselves with our shared history at Craig as the backbone of our success. We may not have all the answers right now, but we did not just spend the last thirteen years of our past to scrape by in our future, so we’re gonna keep going, keep working.
With the help of everyone here, all our families, friends, mentors, everyone, I can absolutely guarantee that we will carve out a life for ourselves full of purpose and drive and ambition that you wouldn’t believe, whatever that means for each and every one of us.
Class of 2018, I know without a doubt that we aren’t here because of obligation or ceremony but because we each have worked so dang hard for this, and I know without a doubt that this isn’t it for us. We’re here right now, sitting at Monterey, because this is the starting point, and there’s no other way but up.
Thank you and congrats to all of us here. We deserve it.
I want to first thank all the families here today, especially the siblings of the graduates. We know you’re bored, so just hang in there. Next, of course, Craig teachers and administrators. I’m sure you’re surprised to see a few of us in the crowd today.
Most importantly though, I’d like to give a big shout out to the underclassman I paid to write this for me, really couldn’t have done it without you.
And finally, I would like to thank the entirety of the class of 2018. I’ll be sure to keep it short so that the afterparty can start on time.
I want you guys to think of the reason you’re here. For me personally, it was because Michelle Chung was too busy to write a better speech than me in this timeframe.
But really, I want you to think of why you are sitting here. Why you deserve this. It may seem like graduation is just the inevitable next step, the last hurrah before you move onto bigger, better things. But this is more than simply an obligation or rite of passage. This is the validation from all the accumulated effort you’ve put in over the past thirteen long, oftentimes painful but mostly pretty okay, years.
I’ll spare you the cliche of comparing this to a finish line or a mountain summit, but think of everything you’ve done to get yourself here. Every homework assignment, late but still turned in, every hour of studying, then test, then corrections, then retake, it all amounted to right now, this moment. It all got us here.
For the past thirteen years, you’ve dedicated your life to this, to school, to your education. And it can be daunting to grasp the gravity of graduation, what it actually means for our futures. We’ve spent basically our entire lives within the classroom, surrounded by virtually the same people, doing the same routine over and over again, and now that’s over.
Now, we move on. We get better, smarter, more capable of functioning in the outside world, in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Now we’ve got to prove our place in this new part of our lives. And in all honesty, that’s really fricken’ terrifying.
We’ll put up a good front for the graduation party and the flood of questions we’ll get from every person above the age of twenty-three we’ll see in the next few months, but we don’t actually have any idea of how this next chunk of our lives, and everything afterwards, will pan out. We’ve gotten pretty good at pretending to know what’s going on, but in all honesty, we have absolutely no idea of what will happen. We’re still learning, taking everything that has been instilled into us since our first days at CHS and before and applying it to this new world of college or the military or workforce or whatever else we have planned.
But if there’s one thing that I know about the class of 2018, it’s that we’ll figure it out. We may not know what to expect now, but we’ll learn and adapt, until our nerves and growing apprehension we’ve harboured right now seem a bit ridiculous in hindsight.
We’ll grow into our new roles, and we’ll keep getting better and better, creating full and enriching lives for ourselves with our shared history at Craig as the backbone of our success. We may not have all the answers right now, but we did not just spend the last thirteen years of our past to scrape by in our future, so we’re gonna keep going, keep working.
With the help of everyone here, all our families, friends, mentors, everyone, I can absolutely guarantee that we will carve out a life for ourselves full of purpose and drive and ambition that you wouldn’t believe, whatever that means for each and every one of us.
Class of 2018, I know without a doubt that we aren’t here because of obligation or ceremony but because we each have worked so dang hard for this, and I know without a doubt that this isn’t it for us. We’re here right now, sitting at Monterey, because this is the starting point, and there’s no other way but up.
Thank you and congrats to all of us here. We deserve it.
Raven Schneeberger: Remember the past to forge the future
On behalf of myself and the rest of the class of 2018, welcome to our commencement.
My parents told me to start with a joke, but according to administration (and my better judgement), they “weren’t appropriate.”
Let’s get some of the cliche but true statements out of the way before we continue, shall we?
“Well, guys, we made it. It seems like it was just yesterday. We started from the bottom, now we’re here.” That’s just the beginning of them, but I digress.
We’ve been together for what seems like forever. For some of us, it’s 13 or 14 years, while for others, it’s just tonight. We have met each other’s parents. And what do we have to show for all of this time? For starters, this cool new outfit and a neato new folder holding a certificate of completion.
It’s more a receipt, really. “You completed this much school. Congrats.” and then a greeter at the door kicks you out with a “Have a nice day!”
It’s too bad, too. I mean, for the faculty. We probably put you guys through a lot, but these new kids, man. We are the last of the real ones.
For most of us, our schooling journeys began back in 2005. I remember the first day of kindergarten when we had to line up to come inside. My parents were a mess. “Where did the time go?”
High school--or the last day of it, anyway--felt so far away then. Even freshman or sophomore year, it seemed so far away. Aren’t those years kind of like 7th Grade: Part 2? We gained friends. We lost friends. Those friends came back, because we realized that we overreacted. The trends were flowing through us like a movement. Just in high school (2014-2018) some trends were:
My parents told me to start with a joke, but according to administration (and my better judgement), they “weren’t appropriate.”
Let’s get some of the cliche but true statements out of the way before we continue, shall we?
“Well, guys, we made it. It seems like it was just yesterday. We started from the bottom, now we’re here.” That’s just the beginning of them, but I digress.
We’ve been together for what seems like forever. For some of us, it’s 13 or 14 years, while for others, it’s just tonight. We have met each other’s parents. And what do we have to show for all of this time? For starters, this cool new outfit and a neato new folder holding a certificate of completion.
It’s more a receipt, really. “You completed this much school. Congrats.” and then a greeter at the door kicks you out with a “Have a nice day!”
It’s too bad, too. I mean, for the faculty. We probably put you guys through a lot, but these new kids, man. We are the last of the real ones.
For most of us, our schooling journeys began back in 2005. I remember the first day of kindergarten when we had to line up to come inside. My parents were a mess. “Where did the time go?”
High school--or the last day of it, anyway--felt so far away then. Even freshman or sophomore year, it seemed so far away. Aren’t those years kind of like 7th Grade: Part 2? We gained friends. We lost friends. Those friends came back, because we realized that we overreacted. The trends were flowing through us like a movement. Just in high school (2014-2018) some trends were:
- Ebola
- Alex From Target
- ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
- That stupid dress
- Clown Purge
- Mannequin Challenge,
- Pokemon GO
- “Meet-me-at-McDonalds” haircut
- Fidget spinners
- the Dab
- Charcoal everything
- minion everything
- The revival of Panic!, MyChem, and FallOutBoy
- Skyward to Infinite Campus
- Guest login/general login (unless you’re staff)And it only goes downhill from here. I am not going to continue, because they might come back.
Those are just 15 different things that we have lived through in the past four years. Looking back, four years really did fly by. Just like everyone said it would.
It seems like longer, because of everything else that has happened.
Craig has been in the news quite a few instances in our time here. Our sports teams have gone to state or on for a national title. Our choirs have almost won national titles and one of them went and performed in the White House.
We were in the Gazette to bring awareness to the fact that we don’t want to die young. But two or three instances that we have been in the news will make my peers cringe and/or laugh. That’s right, guys. Those ones. If you have questions, you can ask your children or myself after the event.
Through every experience, we have grown together. Sure, it has taken over ten years for some of us to tolerate each other, but tonight we unite. Together, we survived many dumb trends and even dumber headlines.
By being here tonight, we are almost guaranteed to run this town tomorrow. We are the future, after all. That is both scary and cool as heck.
In conclusion, I would like to remind everyone why we’re here tonight. We’re here to celebrate the end of one era and the start of another. So, to close my little speech, I’m going to quote one of my favorite songs, again.
“Here’s to us
Stuck it out this far together
Put our dreams through the shredder
Let’s toast cause things got better
and everything could change like that
And all these years go by so fast
But nothing lasts forever
Here’s to us”