Ballenas Secondary valedictorian's speech from Nathan Brown on June 27, 2024:
Good afternoon friends, family, staff and graduates. My name is Nathan Brown and I am honoured to stand before you as the valedictorian of this truly remarkable class. Thank you all for gathering here today to celebrate our years of hard work, perseverance, and growth. I just want to say, before I begin, that my goal is not make everyone cry, because if you start crying, I’ll start crying.
Without further ado, I’d like to give a big thank you to all the teachers and staff here in Ballenas. Your contributions to our education, where this is the final chapter or just the beginning, have made a lifelong impact.
With that said, I am so thankful that I will never have to do another English Socratic seminar or math CYU again. Our time in high school has come to an end, it’s safe to say, having a favourite teacher is a right of passage. For me, it was Steve Dorsay, or as I call him Stevie D. For many of his students, he wasn’t just a teacher, but a friend. Though you many not have had the opportunity to be mentored by Mr. Dorsay, many of you have found your own ‘Stevie D.’ The relationships we’ve built with you all have made our high school experience uniquely memorable.
To our families of all varieties, your love and encouragement has been our foundation. You’ve been there to celebrate our successes and to lift us up when we’ve stumbled. You’ve also been our personal alarm clocks, chauffeurs and private chefs. Whether today you watched your first kid walk across the stage or your last, know that your journey with us is far from over. As teenagers, sometimes we don’t express it enough, so on behalf of all the graduates up here, thank you.
And now for my peers, over these past five years, we have been a part of so much together, and despite our many differences, we have shared an amazing journey. Whether you played on a varsity team, joined a club, performed, participated in roams, struggled through SRM or even if you’re a frenchie, these experiences define who we are today.
Looking back to the beginning of our time at Ballenas, we can reflect on many of our firsts. From nuances like your first real locker, first exam and first job, to getting your licence, discovering your career path or even growing new relationships.
Back then, these firsts seemed so small until they start to become our lasts. Our last dons run, last high school assembly, last time skipping CLC and the last time watching Mr. Spray give a lip sync performance of a lifetime. All leading up to our final moments here, together as the graduating class of 2024.
I can remember, back in elementary school, how eager we were to get to high school and be like the “big kids.” Though now all I can think about is how I want to have one more recess. One more playdate. One more “my mom said you can sleepover” and one more game of man tracker.
As we all move on to this next chapter, I encourage you to appreciate every moment and embrace each new first of adulthood.
Before we go and celebrate, I’d like to ask you all to do one thing; be part of the little things. Take the scenic route, put your phone down, make that spontaneous purchase, ask that person out, join that club and dance, because these moments that are firsts right now, will eventually lasts. In the words of Dr. Seuss, “Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes memory.”
Once again, thank you to everyone that made this possible. We wouldn’t be here without your support. Congratulations to the Class of 2024. Here’s to new firsts and accomplishments yet to come.