Graduation Speech 2019 - Brianna Wiley

I just wanna say let's give a round of applause to all of the seniors for completing the first step to this journey called life. Everyone has a story, but we share some of the same story. What we all have is that we came into this world as a great bundle of joy, growing and growing, knowing that we could be anything we want to be, whether it would be a fighter, doctor, nurse, electrician, technology person, veterinarian, etc., and that's true, we can. But nobody knows the backside of the story. Nobody tells you about the struggles, the obstacles and how to set yourself up right for these opportunities you have to go through. The one main big obstacle is called high school and it's just full of tests. It's crazy though, high school is really
where you learn a lot; it's not just about school work, friends and family. You really do learn valuable life lessons.

Freshman year, I came to MHS with the mindset like wow I'm a freshman, this is gonna be a breeze. I was a good kid. I did sports, and made sure I had everything done so I could just be chilling. At the end of the school year, I had opened up more, got close with everybody, grew as a person, and made tight bonds with everybody by sophomore year. I moved away and came back and things kinda all went downhill from there. I started failing and barely passing my classes, and not getting all my credits. By the middle of my sophomore year I had to sit down and talk about going to Cal Hills. As you all may know, many people think of Cal Hills as a "bad school. "It's where all the fights happen, its were all the high school dropouts are, and all the kids who got suspended or kicked out go.

Its were all the bad kids go." I remember when my counselor at MHS first talked to me about coming over here, I was so scared and nervous about what everyone was gonna think about me, and say about me, and then I just started thinking real negative thoughts, like what if colleges look at my transcript and see this. But now, I am glad they will see this school on my transcript. I'm so happy I came here. At first, I was struggling to adjust to the schedules, the classrooms, and the different teachers. But they all welcomed me with open arms, and they were just so positive. At first, I didn't think I was going to graduate, but they helped get my work done. Some teachers who really played a part helping me get to this final stage of high school are: Mrs Tolley, Mrs K, Dr. Schmidt, and Mrs Bence.They make you feel like you really matter, and they are always on our heads about us getting our work done, or what work needs to be done or turned in to get credit for it, and how we can make up work from when we were not here. These teachers will go out their way to make sure we got everything we need to get through a class, and understand everything.They make sure they get us back on track to graduate. This school is not like how some people paint the picture with their labels. All the students are basically like family. We get along so well and we help each other out. We stick up for each other and really know how to voice our opinions to each other. Everybody is family here, literally. All the seniors have a good bond with our teachers and staff, so we honestly set the tone and vibe. But I'm not gonna lie, some teachers be having us messed up, I'm not go say any names, Dr§chmidt and Mrs Bence, lol. You are the main ones for always giving me another big project even though I always complain about doing them and you giving out too many projects for me. Your response is always, well you gotta do it to get credits, and I always come back to you and say a lot of sarcastic and dramatic things about the project, then we just laugh and I get it done .... and you know exactly what I'm talking about.That's something I am always going to appreciate. We can just talk to you guys more like friends and we can joke with you guys. The way you care for us so much and really supported us and helped prepare us for the next big chapter in our lives is so helpful. You are all truly appreciated. 
Thanks to everybody who has also helped me, like my mom and granny. They helped me tremendously in my life. I am so thankful for them because they get me and understand me and they always push me to do better and to better myself and never lower my standards for anyone, and to be very humble and hold my head up high so my crown never tilts. They played an important part in helping me become this fine chocolate educated woman that I am now. it's crazy when you're a senior and you actually say, "damn time does fly." It literally seems like yesterday we were all freshman. 
If you were to ask me what is something I will miss from high school it would be all the seniors. All the time we spent together literally growing up. We all started at MHS, then moved over here ... all the laughter, the jokes and arguments ... we had the fun moments. I got so comfortable and attached to everybody and the energy and the love is real. I learned to value a certain few people (my Best Friend, Angel, Mina and Aryen) a lot more because they really made me happy and showed me that the love and our friendship, our bounds, along with our talks and goofy moments, are forever. Those memories have a lot of meaning to me, and I will never forget them. When I say "I got you for anything," I mean it. 
This school it's just A 1 ... it's perfect. That's what kinda makes it hard to say goodbye to all you guys. That helps shape our character and builds us up is the memories and the environment we created and the bound we have with each other. That's what I'll really miss, but don't be sad, it's only just the beginning . 
But it's crazy, high school is really where you can learn a lot in the short amount of time. But seeing how we all matured, and how we have grown over the years, is something amazing. We're all turning into bright young adults. But I honestly can say graduating with the class of 2k19 and making it is possible with the support I've had my family and friends, is life changing. We really did 4 years of high school, we can do 4 more for college. The keywords that we all need to always keep in mind are: focus, patience, balance, determination, energy, and time, and I promise it will help you a lot in your life. 
Thank you!