I remember walking across that stage receiving my High School diploma like it was yesterday. High School is where I met some of my very best friends. It’s where I realized I was becoming an adult; where I faced some of the hardest challenges I’ve dealt with in life. High School was the end of an era, but the start of a new beginning.
I graduated in 2008 and like I said, it was some of the best times I’ve had. From school projects on Beowulf, learning to write sentences in Spanish, not paying attention in class with Molly and Jacob, to planning Winter formal with Anna Clare, Lauren and Tara. We had a blast ! But as I also mentioned it was a time in my life where I faced some challenges. I was still trying to find who I was as a person and what I wanted to do with my life. I remember days of not wanting to go to class, wanting to throw in the towel. School wasn’t for me. I wasn’t a “straight A” student or at the top of my class. It took me 4 years, but I figured it out my senior year. FINALLY! I was ok with not making straight A’s. It’s ok to fail. It’s ok to not be the best at everything. We’re human. When I finally came to grips with that, I had a totally different outlook on school, and even on life.
“There’s no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us into a different direction.”
I seriously couldn’t have made it through high school without having the support system I did. My AWESOME Mom and Dad, my sweet grandmother, and my supportive sister and friends. I’ve come along way, but I’m here to say it doesn’t get any easier. Don’t give up. Keep fighting. Keep pushing. Be that person you’ve always dreamed of. BE YOURSELF. It’s much easier to be yourself than pretend to be someone else.
“It doesn’t matter how far you rise, at some point you are bound to stumble.”
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
I have had the pleasure of working on the leadership team at Montgomery First with some of the greatest young people in the world. I have watched them grow into individuals that stand firm in their beliefs for Christ and have been a beacon of hope in their schools.
Congratulations Emily Anne Berg, Precious Love Alexandra Dosey, Larry Keith Jackson Jr., Connor McLemore, Judy Kenechi Oranika, Jordan Sanders, Keegan Sanders, Hunter Sandlin, Miranda Nicole Schofield, Andrew Scott, Christopher Wallace, Nicholas Wysmulek. Class of 2013!!! YOU DID IT!!
“Go. Shine! Shine to the voices that said you couldn’t do it. Shine to God who saw you through it. Remember it was only by his grace, you could do it. “
Pastor Jimmy showed this video Sunday at our Graduation service and it couldn’t be more fitting.
