Knightline: 2019-2020 - Vol.2 & Annual Reports

2020 OCHS VALEDICTORIAN SPEECH
Welcome family, friends, faculty, staff and most of all my fellow graduates, the class of 2020.
Today. we are here to celebrate our graduation, a time that many of us, if not all of us, thought
would never take place. We truly had no idea that a pandemic would completely change the
course of our senior year and almost derail just about all that we have been looking forward
to. Many of us did not expect the unexpected; our overall ideas of what senior year would look
like did not go exactly as planned. Our year was cut short by the global pandemic, causing us to
start remote learning and not see our classmates and friends every day. Everything we thought
would be the highlight of our senior year—JSB, Senior Awards Night, the talent show, senior trip—
suddenly became something that we would not experience, something that would not take place.
However, if this pandemic has shown me one thing, it is the strength of the senior class. It has
shown the adaptability we have from abruptly switching from face-to-face to online learning,
although it may have been difficult in the beginning. As this quarantine has gone on, we made the
best of every situation, taking advantage of our phones and laptops to constantly keep in touch
with our classmates. We texted, we Facetimed, we communicated in every way possible. All of
this created a stronger community in the class of 2020; we supported each other in our times
of hardships, oftentimes relating to one another and letting others know they were not alone in
their situation. During this time, we were able to reflect on our favorite high school memories,
such as singing the “Oceans Remix” and National Anthem at freshman year homecoming,
playing that one sport and watching the student section go wild, dressing up for the spirit weeks
and still not winning unless it was March Madness. We were able to act in Mrs. Stutz’s class for
The Crucible. We learned in Mr. Schaap’s class to never ever ask the question, “Who’s Beowulf?”
We were scared by Mr. Jaurez whenever he would make a loud noise during a test just giving
the excuse he was killing a fly. We played very intense games of trashketball in Mr. Fischer’s
class. All these memories are thanks to the teachers and staff with which we had the pleasure to
experience our high school careers. The teachers and staff helped shape us into the people we
are over the past four years.
And let us not forget our families. Though our teachers had us for about seven hours a day, it was our families that supported us through our lives. They were there to
guide us through the years. They were there to support us, to help us through tough times, to ensure that we remained on track to reach this point in our lives. Our
families molded us into the young adults we are today. Now it is our time to make them proud, to go off to college or into the workforce, and show them that we are
thankful and appreciative of all that they have done for us.
Although we take our memories with us as we finish high school, we do leave something behind. We leave our legacy. Oftentimes when we think about legacies, we
think of who liked us or what stories are told about us; however, this is not the true legacy we leave. Our legacies are not about our high school popularity, our grades,
or the amount of Tiktok followers we have. Our legacies are the ways we treated others and the effects we had in their lives. Hopefully, what people will remember
most about us is the kindness we showed and the happiness we caused. We leave a legacy by being servant leaders and by demonstrating moments of helpfulness. We
leave a legacy by becoming role models to the younger generations. We leave a legacy by being the individuals we are and not looking for the acceptance of others.
Our legacy is the type of people we were throughout our four years in high school. We will have magnificent stories to tell about how our senior year was interrupted
by a global pandemic, but in the end, it is our legacy that will stay with us, and the school, forever.
Now we face our future, excited to see what comes next in our lives. Each of us will be starting new chapters whether it be college, the workforce, or the military. We
will make new friends and acquaintances. We will face new challenges and obstacles. We are all going into times that are new to us, times that can change at a rapid
pace, but we are lucky. We have learned in a short period of time to become adaptive, to change the way we learn, and to succeed. Though we may not know it, our
experiences over the last months have helped prepare us for the future we face.
With that, we will all be successful in whatever we do and wherever
we go. We will all play a part in the lives of others. We will all
become something amazing, and that is what we should
all look forward to. We all have a solid foundation, as
Isaiah 58:11 says, “The Lord will guide you always.”
With that knowledge, I hope we will all continue
to trust in God and follow the path he has
created for each and every one of us. By
following the Lord closely in our faith,
we will surely go out and do great things,
things everyone here cannot wait to see.
So as we move on from high school,
remember to enjoy the memories, leave
legacies, give thanks, follow God, and
do the impossible.
Congratulations Class of 2020!
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