Good evening. To begin I would like to thank all of the teachers, administrators and students at Claremont for allowing me the opportunity to speak to you tonight. I also want to thank everybody in the audience – all the parents, family members, community leaders and friends for coming out to support the graduating class of 2009.

We are here tonight to celebrate 13 years of education, and the beginning of a new era in all of our lives. Although the road leading up to this point has been long, I cannot imagine a better group of students and teachers to have shared my high school experience with.

Most grads, including myself, have awaited this moment for months. We've all said to each other, “I can't wait to graduate, I just want to be done with it all.” Tonight, however, I am sure that everyone is feeling a modicum of sadness at this bittersweet moment in our lives. We have formed countless friendships and had numerous experiences at Claremont which we shall come to cherish. Perhaps we'll even miss the bustling cacophony of the lounge during lunch or the throngs of students squeezing through the third floor stairwell between classes.

I remember way back to grade 9 during those first few days at Claremont. We all walked in after having been top of middle school... the “big kids.” Suddenly, we weren't so big. The older students towered over us and we no longer felt so important. We struggled to comprehend how we would find our way over the tidal pool of our first year, let alone navigate the greater seas of high school.

Tomorrow we embark on a new voyage. After this evening we will need to learn how to work for a living, and then how to support ourselves and our own families. We will experience exciting new levels of independence, but also heavy responsibilities. We won't have teachers waiting for us at nine-o-five to guide us through our days (or, in Mr. Gardner's case, nine-o-eight). For a time we will feel insignificant... We will be lost. But, we will persevere and make the best of every challenge presented to us. Barack Obama said, “If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress.” Unfortunately, progress cannot only be made with what we have learned in our provincially mandated K to 12 education. For most of us, it won't matter how you calculate the amplitude of a sinusoidal curve (no offense Ms. Pang), or how to conjugate an irregular Spanish verb. And if we have children in the future, they are certainly not going to be sacks of flour... inanimate and reinforced with duct tape. Other lessons that we've learned in high school, however, will be useful. Athletics have taught us the importance of teamwork. Volunteerism and fund raising have provided us the ethics of generosity and hard work. Our international students have shown us the value of diversity. And, our Spartan house-leaders have taught us the importance of community and spirit.

The past years have been incredible, both in our school, and in our world. We have witnessed new attitudes about race and politics; historic advances in technology and communications; a growth in the everyday person's consciousness about the environment. Unfortunately, recent history has not all been positive. Destructive wars and conflicts have continued. A weak economic situation has humbled developed nations. Natural and man-made disasters have ravaged parts of the world. But in us lies the hope that many of these problems can be solved.

However, they will not be solved overnight, nor will they have easy solutions. The famous basketball coach, Pat Riley, once said, “Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” As we move to better the world we live in, our education will guide our decisions and shape our ideas. I believe that change and progress will only come if we yearn to continue our education about life, whether it be in university, college, the workplace or the family. Who knows? Maybe one of the grads seated here will be the one to find a cure for cancer or solve our energy crisis. But that, I think, can wait until tomorrow.

Because graduation is an occasion for celebration. Tonight we celebrate the completion of high school, and the beginning of our adult lives. And, before we make the transition from the latter to the former, I urge everyone to enjoy this time... to make the most of our last days of adolescence before moving on to the innumerable challenges of the adult world.

Many of the graduates sitting here today may be thinking they don't have the power to change things. I disagree. Every person in this class possesses the ability to spark progress. For those who are unsure of what is to come, this is not the time for fear or apprehension. Rather, the coming days should be a time of reflection upon one stage of our lives and a time of excitement about the next stage. Abraham Lincoln said that “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” It is important that we confront the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow confidently as they present themselves. And remember, we came here tonight united as Spartans and we will leave here tonight united as Spartans... The only difference now is that the future is what we must conquer. Good luck!