CANORA - Good afternoon everyone, family, friends, and most importantly, the graduating class. As I stand up here today I can't help but be excited for what's in the future. We all say on our graduation day, "this is where our life finally begins."
When we say this, we are forgetting about the past 13 years we've spent together. Throughout these years we have created many memories, some more memorable than others.
Our third grade wedding that we put on during recess on the playground, Matthew choking on a meatball in Grade 4 due to laughing too hard (this was a recurrence throughout many years), and the disgusting concoction in a Beetlejuice Fanta bottle that was sitting on the shelf in OG’s room (for way too long). These memories formed who we are as a class.
We've been together for over 13 years. Thirteen years. That's over 2,000 school days and a global pandemic. We came in with backpacks that were too big for our bodies and minds filled with curiosity and maybe a little fear of what's to come. Leaving our parents' side to enter the new world of kindergarten.
We didn't know it then, but some of the people sitting beside us that day became our lifelong friends. We've grown up together. We experienced many firsts together, first Christmas concert, first day of school, first play day, first field trip and so much more.
This year we experienced a lot of our lasts, the last first day of high school, the last Christmas cup, the last school dance and the last time walking down the narrow halls of the place we dedicated ourselves to for the last eight years.
We have become more than classmates. As Mr. Lowes likes to say during his beginning-of-the-year spiel, we are a family.
Graduation is a day we've all imagined for what feels like forever, especially when you're late night cramming to get an assignment in and you feel like you just can't take school any longer. It's also a time of new beginnings, tearful goodbyes, and sentimental feelings of us as young kids running around on the playground. Over the years we've all spent together new faces have appeared, and old faces went, until we were left with the 25 young men and women who are now called the class of 2025.
There were moments when we thought we wouldn't make it to this day. Late nights filled with frustration, group projects that tested our patience, and drama between friends that all feels like nonsense now.
We can't forget our parents, they made sure we would make it to this day. They were the people who stayed up late helping us study for that test, they pushed us to be our best selves and were always there to lean on when life felt like it was getting a little too hard. They drove us to late night practices and dance rehearsals, and tried so hard to keep themselves busy in Yorkton or Melville for hours waiting for that practice to finally be over. All of that just so they could see the smile on our faces and hear all about our day. They've packed our lunches, woke us up for school, and helped us through the school projects we waited until the last minute to complete. They listened so patiently as we ranted about drama in the hallway, tough assignments, or what someone said in a group chat. They've reminded us of what our ultimate goal was when we forgot. They've believed in us even when we didn't. Each and every one of the parents and guardians out there today deserve a huge thank you for getting us through these past few years, and on behalf of my graduating class I am here to say that. Thank you.
Growing up in Canora, Saskatchewan, we've experienced a kind of upbringing that many people only hear about. It's a community where everyone knows your name, where your teacher might also be your neighbour, and walking down Main Street catching up with your mom becomes your regular weekly routine.
This place shaped us. Canora is the kind of place where people wave as they drive by, where kids grow up with more aunties and uncles than they can count, not always blood related. This small town has supported us and raised us and helped us become the young men and women on this stage today.
I wanted to thank the teachers who have been there for us on behalf of my class. You have been our mentors and our leaders throughout these 13 years of school. You all played an equal part in us making it onto this stage. You taught us responsibility, maturity, how to stand up for ourselves, how to think critically and compassionately. You made learning fun, and included us in activities that gave us the motivation to show up. Without each of you, we would not be prepared for what's to come in the future.
To my classmates, we did it! We crossed the finish line of high school.
As we move into the next chapter, whether that's university, trades, work, travel, or something we haven't figured out yet, I hope we carry the memories of the past 2,000 days with us. I hope we remember to take our time, no matter how fast we want the future to come.
We've spent so much of high school thinking ahead: to finals, to summer, to graduation, to "what comes next." We talked about the future constantly, counting down the days to moments like this.
But if there's one thing I've learned it's that we shouldn't be in such a hurry. Some of the best moments were the small, quiet ones. The slow walks to school with your best friend. The lunchroom laughter, and when that got out of hand, the quiet contests and hangman on the white board.
Class of 2025, let's not be in such a rush to get to the next goal. I want to take it all in and remember our high school graduation, because this is a moment that's worth remembering.
As we sit up here together, we simply end a chapter of our life as a new one begins.
Today isn't goodbye, it's "see you out there." Congratulations class of 2025!
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