Graduation Speech

{ One day a man was walking along the beach, when he noticed a boy hurriedly picking up and gently throwing things into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “Young man, what are you doing?”

The boy replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

The man laughed to himself and said, “Don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the surf. Then, smiling at the man he said, “I made a difference to that one.” }

The Starfish Story written by Loren Eisely.

Hello, my name is Maggie Reed. For those of you wondering why I have the honor of standing in front of you today, I will be honest. I haven’t done anything extraordinary over the past four years. I certainly didn’t get straight A’s or commit to any extracurricular activity long enough to achieve an award, or even try my hardest. I have simply been an average student who most of the time struggled to get by but that's apart of my story. As you go through life you collect stories. Stories that consist of the moments who make us who we are. Most of the time we share the stories that are funny, embarrassing, and the ones that show our growth but there are parts of these stories that we sometimes forget to mention. So today I have the honor of standing in front of you to share a part of the class of 2016’s story.

The truth is high school is hard. Growing up is hard. Being an average teenager in this world is hard. As students we are pressured by society that we have to be the best at something to be good at anything, and for the past four years of our life that has all been focused on our achievements at school, but no one seemed to mention that while all of that was on our shoulders, we were supposed to overcome the feelings of failure, disappointment, betrayal, loneliness, self doubt, and even heart break which can all make life a lot harder.

I have certainly made my life harder than it had to be like any other angsty teenager and I felt like giving up, I have felt lonely, I have failed, and I have had my heartbroken, but the one feeling I have never felt, is the feeling that no one cared. I started off with a story about a boy who was trying his hardest to save the lives of starfish only for a close minded man to tell him he couldn’t make a difference if he couldn’t save them all, but his response to the criticism was simply 7 words that become a catalyst of inspiration and insight, “I made a difference to that one”.

As I look around at the familiar faces of the class of 2016, I know that every single student in this crowd would have never made it if it wasn’t for the love and support given to us from the staff at Big Foot High School. These adults who have their own lives, their own problems, their own kids and even families have spent countless hours helping mold us into the people we are today. Silently cheering us on as we struggled through the hard teenage years. These adults who were once strangers have opened their hearts and allowed each and everyone of us in.

Whether it was Mr. Palmer making fun of you for doing something weird, stupid, or even normal.

T.C. passing you in the hallway and saying something funny that catches you so off guard that you can’t think of a witty come back fast enough.

Or the dreaded eye roll of Mr. Phillips as he catches you not concentrating in class.

Or the long hours that Ms. Konkel is willing to spend with you after school so you can try and finish a lab.

Or the way Ms. Steadman goes out of her way to try to bring each book to life with props, parties, and food.

Or the way Mr. Dowden jokes around with you as you pretend to know what's going on in Adv. math concepts.

Or how Ms.Pitassi will sit there and relearn an entire semester of every math class in order to try to explain it to you even if it takes 100 times.

Or sharing a laugh with Ms. Shepard because she knows that you don’t care about your homework but she never gives up trying to change that.

Or when Bochet had you write down your ten life goals freshman year and tried to convince you that you can achieve anything if you simply put in the effort.

Or Ms. Sanders relentlessly pressuring you to try the hardest you can with a sarcastic comment about how life really works.

Or reading Mr. Waters emails about every small holiday.

Or walking into class and seeing Mr. Haney and just knowing it was gonna be a good day,

Or Ms. Zirngibl’s intense debates about real world problems that sneakily get you involved in the book you're reading.

Or when Krick cheers you on because you are really really really trying your hardest but you just weren't given the gift of knowing how to hit a small flying object over a net.

Or even walking past or into the front office and being greeted by a huge smile from Ms. Grever every single day while you try to smoothly load your pockets full of candy.

All of these men and women go out of their way to make our days a little better and for the past four years they have been the binding in which holds the chapter of the class of 2016’s story together. They have laughed, cried and cheered us on when we felt like nobody else was even noticing.

Four years have come and gone, but we made it and we made it because these people believed in us and cared even when we didn’t. So as we begin our journey into the next chapter of life sooner or later things will inevitably become hard again and in those moments you might feel like giving up but I hope you remember the The Starfish Story. I hope you look back at the story of your life and turn the pages slow enough to remember the people who made a difference by helping you through the hard times and choose to keep trying for those people.

So as I stand here today, I think I speak for the whole Class of 2016 when I say,

Thank you. Thank you for adding a smile to the bad days. Thank you laughing with me as I tried. Thank you for pushing me. Thank you for making me feel important and most importantly thank you for believing in me.  Each and everyone of you has made a difference in our lives. So thank you for saving one hundred and eighty six more starfish.

Girl Friends

Before you begin to follow my journey through life it is essential to know the people who are apart of my day to day life!

LAUREN OLIVER

Here we go! The first person in my day to day life is my best friend for the past two years.

LAUREN OLIVER (Leo)

I met Lauren in a sort of awkward way. I was actually in lovvveeeee with her older brother James who I will introduce later on. She is two years younger than me. Lauren would come buy me donuts when I worked at the grocery store (Daniel's Sentry Foods) and gossip with me about whatever drama was going on in her middle school world. Within the blink of an eye we became inseparable. Our relationship is a bit hard to understand though. We love each other like an older sister and younger sister do so we often have petty arguments but always tell each other exactly how it is.  The next person is my favorite red head in the entire world!

MIKAYLA GRINNELL

  MIKAYLA GRINNELL (Mik)     

I met Mikayla in a history class sophomore year. She was always laughing hysterically in the back most of the time by herself. She is one of the funniest girls I have ever met. She has the gift of quick witty humor and really thats all you ever need in a best friend. She lives in Sharon, Wisconsin which is basically in the middle of nowhere. I don't get cell phone service out there thats how "middle of nowhere" it actually is. She raises steers which are boy cows that cannot mate with girl cows. Mikayla tries to teach me as much as she can about the "farm life" but I usually just end up trying to ride her steers which ultimately leads to rejection and feelings of self doubt on my part. She also "cruises the strip" in Janesville, Wisconsin. Cruising the strip is an activity that most farm kids do on Friday and Saturday nights. Essentially it is a bunch of hicks racing each other in a circle in the middle of a city (Janesville for example). She has been one of my main sources of happiness in my dark days for the past three years. She also babysits my crazy siblings so sometimes I walk downstairs in the morning (2:00 p.m.) and there she is.

Michelle Murphey (Shelly)

I met Shelly through her boyfriend (Wiscomac) and if you're unaware of who Wiscomac is you will soon find out. His real name is Mitch Cornue and his father owns a dairy farm with lots and lots of cows. Mitch and I sat next to each other in study hall freshman year and instantly became friends by being distracting and hilarious. Mitch started dating Michelle after he met her at the fair and of course she hated me because I was a fabulous little girl in Mitch's life but she learned to love me and now she the first person I call when I need to talk to someone because she is an equally insane and funny lady like me. She has red hair so I call her ginger because she lacks a soul at all times. 

Fathers Day - Mike

Now now now...don't think I forgot about you!

I don't really know if I've ever shared this moment with you...but if I have it will bring a smile to your face again and if I haven't than I'm sure you'll love it.

I was on my laptop one day at the apartment and you didn't officially really live there yet but you had been in my life for a couple years at that point and I knew it was at the point that you were ether gonna stay forever or leave...and I began writing you a letter...as I heard the key in the door. 

You came through and said hello and told me you had forgotten something in the bathroom. 

You quickly went through whatever you "forgot" and than smiled and said goodbye.

I being a weird preteeny teen than got mad that you interrupted my concentration and stopped writing but in that letter would have been me explaining that I loved you. That I loved the happiness you brought my mom and me and that if you wanted too...that you could stay forever...but you would have to marry my mom. It was an essential part of forever. The letter was me trying to express to you that I actually liked one of my moms boyfriends and that even though you were mostly bald that you were alright. I never gave you that letter or finished it because a couple days later...you did the exact thing I was thinking about. 

You asked my mom to marry you.

YOU BEAT ME TOO IT! 

BUT I think its crazy how now when I look back I know that you didn't forget anything that day...you went looking for a ring to make sure you bought the right size and in that same moment I was looking for a "ring" to give you..so Happy Fathers Day to you, Mike. 

Thank you for always pushing me to be crazy. 

For supporting my dreams.

For talking with me about life.

For understanding.

and for not just accepting me into your family but throwing me into the crazy Redmond world.

Although when I first met you I didn't think you'd last 2 weeks I'm really really really glad you stuck around. 

Love you Batman!(:

Fathers Day - Uncle Chris

Hello Uncle Chris!

As I'm sure you know today is a day for celebrating fathers around the world and although you are not my dad I still feel like you should get recognition because you are a man who helped raise a child...and that is the definition of a dad.

So HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

When I think back to where my crazy imagination began I more often than not think of memories with you. You would build monstrous forts with me that seemed invincible from any sort of invader. You would play hours and hours of hide and seek. You would draw with me. You would laugh at every joke I attempted to make. You would sit and watch my "shows" that I would put on for long periods of time even if it was a silent motion show of dance and laugh and laugh and tell me that I belong on Broadway! You shared books and stories of aliens and crazy creatures like dragons and ghosts with me! You inspired every ounce of imagination and creation that I had inside of me. You believed in all of my crazy ideas and told me that grades weren't important! So thank you for loving me by loving my mind and all of the depths that it would go to. 

I love you and Happy Fathers Day. 

- Mags 

Dreams Do Come True

4th Grade - Best photo of me

I was nine years old when I first dreamt of owning a Mac. It was something I'm sure I bugged my mom about for months and when I was ten she brought home a Mac and I was through the roof! Until she muttered the words "we're sharing it!". Like WHAT not cool but as the story goes it quickly became mine and my new best friend as I uploaded Roller Coaster Tycoon and eventually the game that ends all computers lives SIMS. My whole body still twitches as I say "sims" out loud. Ah. Please note that there are no pictures of me for the next couple of years due to the fact that I never left the house because I was so attached to my mac.
I also remember the very tragic day as the screen went dark and wouldn't turn on no matter how many times I prayed to god asking him to fix my laptop...the mac did not turn on. The next day I recall the cold walk to the back of the computer store in Kansas. As I held my laptop so very tight hoping that the computer Dr would fix her for a low price so my mother wouldn't say no. I placed the laptop in the Dr's hands and told him what happened and cringed as mother used her nurse voice to try and reexplain what had happened. The Dr saw my big eyes as they were I'm sure very scared and filled with hope that he would fix it. He opened the laptop and tried to do anything he could but looked down at the small 5th grader that I was and said,

Accurate representation of how I looked the day of Mac death

"I'm sorry, you crashed the motherboard". I took a deep breath in as I grabbed my laptop back from him and than the whole world went silent as we walked out of the store. My eyes began to flood with tears. Yes real tears and I began to sob before we even exited the store as mother dragged me out. My heart was broken. I became depressed.  Since that day I have dreamt and prayed for a Mac to fill my heart with joy.I remember the visit to Uncle Nathan and Aunt Amy with Patrick and Ciaran along with Aunt Val as Aunt Amy and I went shopping we stopped by the Apple Store and she must have saw the aw in my eyes and than had a not so secret talk with Uncle Nathan about fulfilling my dream. I knew that that was a gift that was too much to ask as did Uncle Nathan as he talked Aunt Amy and told her no. I smiled and said that it was okay and one day I would achieve it and have my baby Mac. A couple months later I sent out an email to every family member starting the "Mac Fund/Dream".Ultimately that foundation failed but I was gifted with a laptop that Christmas from my father. Which lasted a few years but I knew it would never last as long as a mac would but Aunt Susie taught me to be grateful for every gift that I receive even if it is a simple pair of socks. So today after nine years of waiting for my dreams to come true I am beyond excited to share with you that I just typed this on my BABY MAC!

Walking in!

The day of, I shared with my father that "Today was the day" and he said, "Maggie I had planned on buying you a normal laptop as a graduation present that way you could save your money for when you go to school and I thought about my options and than looked him in the eyes and said, "Thank you dad but I've waited nine years for this day and everyone has donated money because I graduated and heck I'm tired of settling for less than I want just because it saves me a bit of money! I deserve this!" and than I walked out of the house!  As I made the thirty minute drive to Lake Geneva, WI to purchase my dream I didn't know what to think. I kept imagining every outcome and tried to prepare for all of the things that could potentially go wrong! I pulled up to the Best Buy and got out of my car ready for battle! I walked through the doors and the cold air condition hit me and I marched straight to the back! I found the Mac aisle and a man approached me and he asked if I needed any help and I said, " I would like to buy a Macbook Air!" and he said, "WELL okay lets do it!". He grabbed a latter and climbed to the top of the shelf and unlocked a cage where the baby Macs all awaited to be adopted.

He grabbed the one on the very top!

Walking out of the store!

We walked all the way to the check out center and he asked me how old I was and if this was my first Mac and he must have noticed the tears filling my eyes as he scanned the bar code because he asked me if I was okay! I smiled and said, "Oh my gosh yes I am great! Buying a Mac has been my dream since I was nine years old! I used to be a big gamer and I destroyed a hand me down that my mom bought me when I was in 4th grade and ever since than I have only ever dreamed of it!" He began to laugh and asked me what I was doing in college and I told him that I was going to be a writer which he than followed with the question of what kind of writing and I said, "The kind of writer that changes the world." (Not kidding I really said that!) He smiled and as he handed me my receipt he said, "Well than you certainly deserve the laptop of your dreams". I than began crying again as the lady at the doors checked my receipt to make sure I wasn't stealing anything.  

All ready to go home!!

So to all of my aunts, uncles, and Grammy I must say thank you for donating! I love you all so very much and after seeing you a couple weeks ago I realized that my mother shares nothing of my life with you! Selfish girl! SO as an even better thank you I thought I would start a private blog that only you guys can see so you can check up on me whenever you'd like because it takes a village to raise a child and every single one of you is apart of who I am because you were there helping my mama in any moment that you could. AND of course THANK YOU MOTHER! You know that I love you the mostest! Thank you for helping me get the laptop of my dreams! <3