Greetings ladies and gentlemen, family, and of course friends! It is an honor to not only stand here today as a graduate of Bluff City High School, but also as the Class of 2022’s Valedictorian. Which, I am not going to lie, doesn't make me feel any different compared to any of you. So, I stand before you all, not just as the Valedictorian but as a fellow student, a grey wolf, and friend.

I’d like to thank the students who kept pushing forward and did their best to graduate alongside me. I would also like to thank the extraordinary faculty and staff that spent their time building rapport with us and supporting us every step of the way up until this point. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for making the journey to get to the top the most pleasurable. All of you made this possible for me to stand up here on this stage and speak to you.

In the past, like a good portion of you would know, I was one of the shyer students. I rarely spoke unless necessary and just basically let my work be my voice. There was a pattern of constant setbacks that were consistent from 9th all the way to 12th. First off, the constant switching of classes back in 9th grade. 10th grade was relatively normal, but there weren’t many field trips or at least any interesting ones. Then COVID-19 came, bringing a full year of online learning for our 11th-grade year. A lot of students not only lost one of their few escapes from their home life at the time but also lost friends and family. I can relate because I lost someone very close to me near the end of that school year, my mother. Lastly, this brings me to our 12th-grade year where we finally transitioned from online to in-person learning. It was crunch time for a lot of us. College application deadlines, studying for the ACT, taking the ACT, etc… This school year was basically chaotic and at times felt like nothing was going as planned – such as the Senior Trip, Yearbook, community service hours, and so on and so forth.

From all that, I learned the value of time and managing it effectively. Sometimes it feels like we either have too much time or not enough time at all. However, one thing remains constant, everyone here has the same number of hours in a day. The only difference is how we use it. So let today serve as an opportunity for us to reflect on our time here and be thankful for the lessons learned. Even through times that felt like the walls were caving in on me, I was always reminded of the words of my beautiful late mother, whose birthday was yesterday. She would utter these simple, yet inspiring words “You See things through”. Well mom, here I am. Here we are, class of 2022, celebrating our historic graduation day, all because we had the courage to see it through. (silence).

BCHS has been a stepping stone for many students to grow and develop into the young adults they are today, including me. I wouldn’t say it was the hardest journey I've been through, but it was definitely the most interesting with classmates, no... friends like Charles, Karen, Sean, Christian, Nadia, and other fellow Seniors that really made high school a good experience for me, as well as the teachers and staff. Bluff City High School, thank you for giving us the opportunity to show the fruits of our labor and go out into the world and find ourselves. We all may have lost some family and friends along the way, but they will always be a part of our journey. Look up to the sky, they’re smiling down on us as we're finally graduating. Even in the future, they'll continue to lead and guide us with their spirits.

Now fellow students, like wolves, let's pounce our dreams and hold onto them tightly for the future we prepared for because once a grey wolf, always a grey wolf! It's time to get out into the wild and show the world how we howl!