This address to the 2017 commencement at Arlington High School was presented by Emily Brown president of the Student Council:
Most of you probably don’t know this about me, but I am actually quite the avid gardener.
This isn’t exactly what most people expect from me, but I do in fact get up every morning in the summer and go out and check on the plants that I have been raising from seed. After years of growing plants, I have learned that seeds will almost always sprout into seedlings if they are given warmth, water and sunlight.
But, from there, they need to be in their ideal environment to grow tall and strong.
I think that we are a lot like seeds. And although we have all had incredibly different experiences over the past four years, this Arlington community has been the source of all of our warmth, water and sunlight.
We sprouted our seeds back in elementary school, when our teachers spent all day every day tending to our every need and even spelling out our names for us.
As time has passed and we have grown our roots, the Arlington community has become all that many of us know. Some of us have been together for 13 years now, growing and changing alongside each other, and becoming our own sort of community.
I have so much to be grateful for when it comes to this community.
I am thankful for the teachers who care so deeply for us, the parents who support and love us, and the friends who have been through it all with us.
But while my time here at AHS has been full of wonderful memories and experiences, I understand that this environment wasn’t perfect for all of us. We couldn’t have possibly all had enough sun or water here in Arlington to grow tall and strong.
Not all seeds will flourish in the same environment. That just biologically wouldn’t make any sense; different species of seeds have different optimal climates. They can’t just grow wherever they are placed; it has to be the right place for them.
It makes sense that Arlington didn’t have everything that all of us needed. But I do think that the Arlington community gave something to everyone. Some of us have just sprouted here, and some of us have already blossomed. Now, we get to grow and mature as we are transplanted.
Now, I’m not here to give you some magical key to success. But what I do know is that plants can’t keep growing if they aren’t transplanted into a bigger space. While change may be scary, it is also full of potential. Leaving AHS could be either the scariest thing you have ever done, or it could be the most exciting. But taking this step is an opportunity for all of us to grow and flourish.
Wherever you are headed off to in the years to come, I hope you will find the sun, and I hope that you will grow and change and thrive.
Congratulations, Class of 2017, and thank you all for the memories.
This address was published Tuesday, June 6, 2017.
