Graduation Speech

I've gone through 12 years of education. There were some years where I over achieved and exceeded requirements, and there were some years where I didn't try at all and barely made it.

We've all got our issues, and we all think that our problems are the worst, but in all actuality, we're all in the same boat; we're teenagers trying to learn. Whether it's at school, or in life, we're constantly being taught.

This biggest lesson I have ever learned was within this past year. It goes like this: the world doesn't think from your head, it thinks from its own. If you want to live in the world, then you need to think form the world's head, not yours. Analyze every situation, every outcome, every option, and think from every point of view. That's how to make decisions and that's how to take responsibility.

I have yet to master this lesson, however, I know through personal experience it works.

McLain is an alternative school. We all have our reasons for attending and we all have our reasons for the program we chose. Before I enrolled into McLain, I wasn't doing so well in life. I was dropped out of school, wasn't making the best decisions at night, and had no idea what earning meant. I had recently met a group of guys I started hanging out with, and I decided to start analyzing them for the mere enjoyment of knowing how they work. One day, I said something that was off the charts, and one of them got angry with and began to yell. I rarely had anyone say anything back to me because of the position of power I was in at the time and I was in shock someone was talking back to me. I had never had anyone tell straight to my face what they thought. I thought about it for days, but not what he said.

Later, because I was curious as to why he yelled when he did, I began to think intensely about what he had said. He had told me I was selfish and only thought from my own head. He screamed and yelled in my face with how much I wasn't doing what I needed to do in life when I had a chance. He told me everything I now consider to be my biggest lesson ever learned, and the most important for that matter.

I took what he said and began to change the things I did, the way I thought, and what I said. Eventually, I had an epiphany that I needed to go back to school because I not only needed to, but I wanted to. It was too late for me at any other school because I was too far behind. My best friend at the time was a few years behind in school and told me that she had tried alternative school. I remembered my counselor telling me about McLain a year prior when it became obvious to the people around me I was having some issues.

Because of that one guy, I had already gotten all other issues sorted out and was just trying to aim a little higher, to push a little harder, and get a little farther in life. So, I attended the last information meeting, when I knew I was ready, and that night decided I would go with JeffcoNet.

JeffcoNet is not only a very convenient program for those who have a very busy schedule, but it also offers individually motivated people to more successfully achieve their goals. I'm able to do my assignments whether I work, get sick, or have other family matters I need to deal with. I can do things during the day, I don't have to miss school, and the teachers are always more helpful and more available than they were at a traditional school. When I first attended I was a little nervous that this would be a school full of people I wouldn't like, but to my surprise everyone was a neutral person who treated everyone with respect. This was very different to how I had gone to school before, where I had very distinguished groups of either popular, could be popular, and lame.

I have gone through 12 years of education and I plan to go through more. I don't know what situation everyone is in, but if you had the potential to not graduate and McLain helped you succeed, I would be very grateful. And remember my lesson, think from the world's head, not your own.