Congratulations' scented the air, as we lined up in our royal blue cap and gowns. I spent my life fantasizing about this day, and now here it was. It was almost unbelievable how fast life had gone, but how slow it seems to be. Everyone of my peers gathered around their families anticipating the important commencement ceremony.
"You okay, excited?" My mother in her best dress snuck up on me.
"Yeah I'm just a bit nervous." I twiddled around with my fingers.
"Don't worry, you'll do perfect." Her island accent arouse.
"I hope so," I whispered to myself.
"Ou fe ke'm konta, nan tout jou lavi'w. Si'm tap mouri konya, m'tap mouri byen konta." She hugged me.
"I love you, mom." I smiled warmly in her embrace.
"I love you too." She pulled back and walked to her seat.
"Okay, everyone line up, time to get going." Ms. Bleu ordered.
Everyone stood in a single file line behind me, ready to embrace whatever came next in our lives.
"You ready?" She asked me.
"Yeah." I answered confidently.
To the beat of the music, we stepped along the field to our designated seats. I headed the graduating class as every parent cheered from the sides. We sat down filled with euphoria, anticipating the moment we could walk out those doors and never look back. Each person that came up to address us, seemed happy to let us go, but were only filling us with that its all success bullshit. No one seemed to tell us, that life would kick us down and eat us up even if we don't give it opportunities to. We needed truth, not a sugarcoated version of it.
"To speak on behalf of the graduating class, please welcome, our Valedictorian, Acacia Grey!" Mr. Paul announced.
My legs quivered, as I moved from my seat in the middle of the field onto the stage. My nerves were getting the best of me as my heart palpitated. I didn't know whether to continue filling my peers heads with false pretenses or to stick to script and tell them what's true. I believed that God puts you through things for good reasons, and I went to church for the first time last week and felt the presence of God stronger than before. It may not seem like that was a deciding factor, but to me it was.
"Good morning." I began, shaking out my hands. "Good morning guests, family, friends and the class of 2017, Good morning!" I spoke more enthusiastically.
"Today, we stand amongst you all, marking a milestone in our lives. " "Today, we say thank you to our families for pushing us, our teachers and the whole school staff for being patient with us, and our friends for supporting us." I read.
"Today, as we collect our diplomas and walk out those doors, we are walking into a new chapter in our lives. We are no longer children, but we are men and women, taking on the world. I will tell you, that it will never be easy, but this was our training grounds." "Here, we went through bad things and good things too, that only prepares us for the things life may throw at us out there. We have no reason be afraid, but still no reason to think that it'll all be ABC's and 123's."
"School has taught us many things, but what's out there, we can only learn by living life itself. My friends, this is only half-time, and the balls are in our courts now. No more practicing, this is where the real game begins, and it is our decision whether we want to shoot three's, hit lay-ups, go for two's, shoot a half court or sit and warm benches."
"Today, is where it begins, and we are not anew, but all that was yesterday will still be strapped to our backs like a backpack, and we will carry it with us, trampling all statistics that were pinned on our generation. We are nothing like those who came before us and those after us."
YOU ARE READING
Precaution
Ficção Adolescente"I don't want to go anywhere, I have things to do!" "Life isn't always about fun and games you know. You have to think about the future!" I said. "Okay you're right. But think about this, why are we given life if we weren't supposed to...
