This is the valedictory speech delivered by Madeline Moody in the virtual Rockdale High School graduation Friday:
I’d like to start off by thanking some people. Thank you to all of the family and friends who have provided support throughout our entire journey, especially during these recent times, I know it has been stressful on more people than just us seniors.
Thank you to the Rockdale ISD staff for doing their best to try and give our class the best replacement for everything we missed, it warms my heart to see how valued we are to the staff. I want to thank my parents and grandparents for being my greatest inspiration and motivation.
Class of 2020, in the words of Fred Rogers, “I’m proud of you. I hope that you are proud of you too.” We did it. 13 years. Roughly 494 weeks-82,992 hours,or 4,979,520 minutes of schooling done.
We have graduated from the mischief of elementary school to the excitement of the brand-new intermediate school coupled with STAAR testing, on to big-bad junior high where we began piecing together who we were, then walked the halls of RHS as excited little fishies, then as supposedly mature sophomores, followed by sleep-deprived stressedout juniors, and finally as the big-dog-seniors.
While we did not get the full senior experience, I know this class had its time to leave our mark. I know it’s a cliche to stand up here and say the class of 2020 was something special. But I mean it - so I’m gonna say it. The Rockdale High School class of 2020 is something beyond special. We are a class of young adults that have had to overcome obstacles in life not only as individuals, but as a class. We have grieved great losses, been a part of amazing successes, and we have done it all together.
I want to take a moment and acknowledge and honor what we have lost. Our greatest pain and sorrow is not having our classmates, Ahkeem and Monterious, here with us in this parking lot. They were our classmates, friends, and even family, undeniably beautiful souls taken from us in the second-grade. We have carried them in our hearts throughout all of our lives, the triumphs and defeats. I know they are beaming down on us today with pride and love.
Class, I want to remind you of the words of Albert Einstein, “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” I know how hard it was for us to give up the rest of our senior year. Spring sports with the promise for some to have a state-appearance, all canceled. Senior year band traditions that go back decades, canceled. FFA banquet, where seniors were supposed to “retire”, canceled’ art, theatre, and many more organizations I’m sure I am forgetting, all canceled. It is okay to mourn these losses, unfortunately, we did not get to have our perfect senior year.
Friday before Spring Break was the last time we walked the halls of RHS together, and we had no idea. We didn’t get our traditional elementary walk-through, or to walk across the stage in front of our community, but we still have each other.
We have one of the greatest opportunities any graduating class has had. What we do will forever affect our community. We are being looked at, to be an example for the future. This is uncharted territory for everyone, but I know we can continue to succeed.
We will be the leaders for our community. We will continue on our paths and won’t let a global pandemic stop us. If we can get through all of crazy high school then end it with online classes while senioritis was already on high, then we can do anything. During our eighth-grade pro
During our eighth-grade promotion, I said, “Let’s make it count. Let’s make a difference. We have an open slate, and the opportunity to leave our pawprints on the heart of our community, Rockdale.” This is even more relevant now. We leave today as graduates, adults in our community.
We could choose to do the expected moping over lost senior experiences for a while, or we could do what this class does best, overcome it. We could show our community how to work hard despite the circumstances, and return the support they have given us for so many years. Whether we go to college, enter the workforce, or a little bit of both, we can be true leaders by keeping our heads held high and making lemonade out of these lemons. Sadly, this is the chapter in our lives where most of us part ways. We will take on challenges more independently and continue to grow as people. But this class of amazing people has truly made its mark. We have helped build each other in preparation for the real world. I know it can be scary, but I also know there isn’t a single person graduating today who cannot take on anything thrown in their path. We have been through it all together. The insanity of freshman year to the embarrassment recovery from freshman year in sophomore year to the late nights studying in junior year “prepping” for senior year to realizing senior year that junior year was way harder all the way to today.
I wish I could look out and see you all in person, instead of recording this for a screen, but somewhere in the lot I am sitting in my vehicle, probably crying -trying my best to soak you all in before our final goodbyes.
Class of 2020, we have done it, and I love you guys.
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