Good evening school board, teachers, family, friends, and my fellow graduates. Welcome to the California Charter Academy graduating class of 2004.
Congratulations graduating students. For those of you that don't know me. My name is Sara Rose Mrakuzic, I have attended the California Charter Academy for 2 ý years now, but before that, I was enrolled at Gridley High School. I would just like to share some brief thoughts with you.
There is a good reason they call these ceremonies "commencement exercises", because graduation isn't the end, it's the beginning. After consulting with a few of my fellow graduating classmates, I have reached a conclusion that may hopefully help us in the future.
How would you want to work at McDonalds the rest of your life? When someone drops out of high school there is a good chance that is where they will end up. Dropping out of high school with an educational background of the tenth grade can significantly reduce your choices in future job opportunities.
A class size experiment in the United States found...
graduation ceremony
graduationEveryone has the right to make their own choices. Once given enough examples an individual is better equipped to make a decisive and educated selection.
After leaving this educational institute, we all will be moving on to another level. Whether it may be college for some of us, joining the armed forces for a few, or simply having a job that requires a high school diploma, at least we all know that we have worked hard and accomplished the first step, we did it together.
All of us students that have attended CCA are unique in our own individual way. We all are not here just because we got into a fight at another school, or are criminals, we are here because we enjoy CCA, and the teachers can help us immensely.
Someone once told me that things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out. Yeah, well I was in like 6th grade when someone told me that. Do you really think that I understood it? I mean I wasn't slow or anything, I just didn't care what it meant at the time. Well, a lot has happened since then. And now I live by that saying.
Going into high school, I was ready for four difficult transition years into life; little did I know that by the middle of my sophomore year I would make the decision to attend California Charter Academy. I didn't choose to come here because I thought it was an easy school where if you showed up, you got an A. I knew that I would have to work hard here just as hard as I had to work at the High School. But at least at CCA the teachers here help the students at each ones pace. That was wonderful for me because I like to work at my own pace, and at the High School you can't really have that opportunity because you have to go the same pace as the rest of your class.
I didn't want to bore you all with a long speech, but I can't express enough how proud I am of all of us. I hope each and every one of you will continue your education, and if not, good luck anyways.
As for myself I will be starting a Dental Assistant program in August and will be thanking everyone along the way for helping me achieve my goals. Thank you GOD for showing me the road and holding my hand along the way. Thank you Mom, Dad, Aunts, Uncles, and friends for the emotional support that I needed, thank you Mrs. Springer and Mrs. Khan for all your help, and thank you Grandma for everything you do for me. I love you all.
So as I leave you today after hearing me speak all I ask is for you to thank the people that got you this far. And give yourself a HUGE pat on your back because you did it. And always remember that cute little saying, "Reach high for stars lie hidden in your soul, dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal!"