Champion High School
Editor’s Note: The Boerne Star requested and received permission to bring you Champion High School Valedictorian Samantha Weltens’ speech, delivered at Thursday’s CHS graduation ceremony.
I’d like to begin by saying congratulations to my fellow graduates for reaching this milestone. I also want to extend a thank you to the parents, faculty and all those who have played a role in guiding us to this momentous day.
When I was first presented with the opportunity to speak here today and asked to look back on our time together, it seemed like an incredibly daunting task. As a few of you in the audience are surely already aware, delivering a speech of this magnitude is not common practice for me, and I did not quite know where to begin.
This is the type of situation that we have all been in before: when faced with a challenge outside of our comfort zone, we become overwhelmed by our perceived weaknesses and the thought of failure, and while doing so we completely overlook our potential strengths.
The outcome that we desire is right in our reach — we just need a change of perspective to achieve it. I told myself to stop looking at this as a speech and instead see it as a story.
So, before we say our final goodbyes, I would like to begin by reflecting on the story of us: the Class of 2024.
A long four years ago, we were the nervous, wide-eyed freshmen walking into high school for the very first time. With masks on our faces and ambition in our hearts, we were all united by a shared sense of possibility.
Overwhelmed by the buzz of new classes, teachers and friends, we all surely felt a little bit lost. Yet as the first semester passed, we found our rhythm, and our individual passions revealed themselves.
Whether you were diving into your first AP class, learning the waltz and the grapevine in the Principles of Dance or bounding into the gym on the first day of tryouts, it was evident that a foundation was being laid for the journey ahead.
Yet all too quickly, sophomore year came around and, once again, everything changed.
Our parents likely remember this year particularly vividly, as many of them were tasked with the death-defying job of teaching us to parallel park. But it was all worth it when we were finally able to walk into school for the first time with that shiny new driver’s license in our hands, proclaiming our newfound independence.
And although we never would have admitted it at the time, this was the year that Champion High School started to feel like home. With every extracurricular we joined and even more so through all the lives that we touched, we truly began to make our presence known.
Then, before we knew it, a sense of urgency swept through our grade as we entered our junior year. The same question was running through all of our minds: “What comes next?”
The pressure of cultivating the perfect resume weighed heavily on us, and with it came a sudden frenzy of SATs, job applications and college research.
Yet even with more on our plates than ever before, we all still found plenty of time to dress up as soccer moms and barbecue dads during Homecoming Week, mosh to Love Story at winter formal and arrive in style to our very first prom. And although none of the DJs ever lived up to the hype, it’s safe to say that the memories we made most definitely did.
Finally, the long-awaited senior year was upon us. Marked by a promotion to the front of the student section at football games and the allure of off-campus lunch, we had officially made it to the top.
Yet even with a bad case of senioritis kicking in — shout out to the most successful senior skip day in school history by the way — we all worked hard to end up here.
The year was filled with lasts: the last first day, the last performance or game, the last grilled cheese Wednesday.
It was also filled with lessons: life moves fast, small moments are important, and most importantly, we learned that despite how much we might try to convince everyone else, none of us know what we’re doing.
I do know one thing though: I could not have asked for a better group of people to spend my last year of high school with.
Now here we are, at the end of our chapter together. Yet the story of our lives has only just begun.
It will not be easy to venture into the world without these friends standing beside us — a world where we will face more adversity than ever before. But just as a simple change of perspective turned my reluctance to deliver this formidable speech into the excitement of reliving our bittersweet tale, we will all find ways to adapt as we run into life’s obstacles.
And if Champion has taught us anything, it is how to adapt. After all, out of the 507 seniors graduating today, we took 507 different paths to arrive here. No one’s experience was the same, and yet we have all achieved this same outstanding accomplishment.
So, as we all receive our diplomas, let it be a representation of the happy memories we made and of the challenges we overcame. But at the same time remember, in the words of Natasha Bedingfield, “This is where your book begins; the rest is still unwritten.”
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