Graduation Speech Essay, Research Paper

First of all I want to thank the students, faculty, family, friends and other distinguished guests

for the honor to address you here today.

I would like to borrow a quote from 20th century poet and writer E. E. Cummings as my

theme. He wrote, ?It takes courage to grow up to be who you really are.?

Cummings uses the word courage when he speaks of what is needed to truly be who you are

inside. The etymology of the word courage is that it comes from the Latin cor meaning heart.

That is why we might hear a phrase like, ?He or she didn?t have the heart to make it up the

hill.?

Regardless of what things this life throws our way ? and it will throw things our way in the

years to come that we don?t want or need ? or through human stupidity we?ll throw them at

ourselves ? regardless ? may we never give up! ? may we never lose heart!

After all — we?re the class of 2000!

That?s easy to say with pride but a fair question might be ? what really lies within this class of

2000? What are we really made of?

They say the year 2000 is the dawn of a new age of mankind. My question is — what will we

as the class of 2000 truly accomplish with our lives? If we have the courage to grow up to be

who we really are ? what will that be?