8th Grade Promotion Speech

PROMOTION SPEECH 2013
Do you remember the first day of Middle School? When you stepped onto campus, and noticed how big this school was, looking for faces you recognized. And when you did, you ran up to them and talked to them like they were the most important person in the world, so you wouldn’t feel so awkward. You told them how nervous and happy you were. Here we are, three years later. Sitting in our dresses and whatever, knowing that in two months, we'll be doing the same thing at a different school. And if you look around in your seats, you'll notice that these are the people you've spent almost every day with, knowing that you wont be seeing all of the same faces next year. Faces that you may have just met this year. And faces that you will remember for the rest of your lives.
Middle school is over and we can move on to bigger and better things. Maybe not better, but definitely bigger. Can you believe it? Because I can't. We have spent almost the whole year thinking that this day would probably never come. But here it is. This is it, the day we aren't 8th graders anymore. But we'll still remember what happened here at this school. I know I will.
When you look at the future, where do you see yourself? Because we can't tell where we are going. Only that it's that way, and we can't go back. But we can look back. We'll still remember everything we did here. All the friends we've made, the things we've done. Everything. And we will carry all of that through our lives. We can look back on the days where we have just sat on the grass in the sun, talking to our friends. Having the strangest conversations that even today don’t make sense. Three years we've spent at the same school, walking the same halls. Three years worth of new friends, new faces, and new people. New people that have become my best friends. And with those people we have had experiences that we will never forget. We will remember all the places we’ve sat at and the conversations we've had there. We will remember all the disagreements we've had, and all the friends we've made.
With every person I've met, and every experience I've had here at Hart, it makes me realize what is coming. We'll see our friends go off to different schools. We'll make different choices with what we want to do with our lives, and that'll take us down different paths then our friends. All these memories, and we'll miss them, even if not all of them were perfect. But we've changed because of them, and most, if not all of us have.
We're going to high school. Already. Just thinking about high school makes me excited. Most of us will go to Foothill or Amador. All the things we'll do, and everyone we'll meet. It's just, exciting. Next year will be a change that most of us are looking forward to, but we will all remember what we’ve had; an amazing experience in middle school, with new bright friends, and memories that will never be forgotten. In the next four years, we will be learning about ourselves and becoming adults. I hope the things we've done together until now will help to get us there successfully. As we move through the next few years our experiences today will be our memories of tommorow. There are great things coming, and just as your parents are proud, each one of you should feel proud of yourself.
So congratulations to all of the graduates, congratulations to the parents, and finally, congrats to the teachers and everyone else who helped us through the past three years. I'll leave you with this final quote, from a great author with whom I imagine you are all familar, by the name of Dr. Seuss. "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go." Congratulations again, and thank you for your attention.