Come fall, some of you will be studying in Scotland, while others will be bundled up in Syracuse. A few will be training for the military, a handful will be travelling the world, many will be driving down the highway to UConn and others will be across the country at USC.
Some of us will study to be doctors and some of us dancers. Others will be professors, politicians and maybe even professional athletes.
Life has a funny way of taking us on drastically different paths, even when we all started at the same place, walked the same halls, studied in the same classrooms with the same teachers. Now here you stand, graduating from Staples High School, together as a class of 462 students.
You have all had different experiences, been inspired by different teachers and played different sports and instruments while following your passions during your time at Staples. But some things have been constant among all of you.
Staples has a culture of high academic competition, a culture where students are driven and desire the sweet taste of success. Staples has prepared you for what comes next.
With age, you will change and mature. You won’t still have the patchy facial hair of a 17-year old, and you won’t have to spend your nights worrying about acne. But, regardless of how much you change both physically and mentally, some part of you will always be that kid who scarfed down a sandwich while sprinting to lab lunch, that kid who spent hours on their research paper to finally achieve their best work.

The places you go and the things you do will all be different, but it’s important to remember where you come from.
Dr. Seuss said it best: “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

Regardless if you loved the past four years or not, they changed you as a person. They have become a part of your identity. They have made you, You.