During the creative process about thinking of what to say in this speech, many people asked me what my theme was going to be.

To tell you the truth I had no idea that this speech was even supposed to have a theme, I was just going to write and see what happened. However as graduation day neared and I was running out of time to procrastinate, the most accurate phrase popped into my head.

My junior year was my last year of high school.

However, before I even explain what this means, let me take you all the way back to September 3rd, 2014. I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was partly rainy, my mom was already stressed from having missed several turns, and I was just anxious to get on campus to see what this whole boarding school thing was about.

We arrived on campus and were immediately swarmed with gnats. I remember we were making our way through the business office and all of a sudden I saw this grown man who was about 5’10″, with outlines of a full beard, sporting a Mohawk while wearing a pink polo. Mind you, my freshman year I was the staggering height of 5’3″ with a hint of a shadow above my lip. Little did I know this guy was a freshman just like me who would later become my best friend.

That same day I met my first roommate and I also met my favorite roommate. I would also go on to meet the friends I call my brothers today and probably the best advisor here.

My freshman year was much like a trial run. I mean man, have I got some stories to tell, we broke down doors, people set off fireworks outside of windows, people adopted wild dogs infested with ticks, oh and we can’t forget the first degree burns (sorry Jahlil and Mr. Munsey).

Besides those things, my freshman year was really all a blur. I constantly skipped assembly, I broke my collarbone, if we’re being completely honest I had no idea what a GPA was or how much it mattered. However one thing I can say is that I was  never poorly dressed, I’ve been spiffy since I came out of the womb (thanks, mom).

Fast forward to my junior year when the pieces really began falling into place. I really began putting my head in the books because I began realizing how important this college thing was.

For some odd reason I thought I had all this time ahead of me, time to breath and time to clear my head. But nope, I was wrong.

Luckily I was saved by Mr. Bruton’s humanities class. Year after year I would hear about how hard humanities was and when I chose to take the class I knew it was time to step up.

I was determined to be able to walk out of that class telling all the underclassman how easy it was and you know what I did, I walked out the class telling all the underclassman how easy it was. However when asked, I always forgot to leave out all the nights I would stay up studying just to sometimes barely get an A on the test.

I am not lying when I tell you that Mr. Bruton’s class is why I have zero fear of taking on college and I am also not lying when I tell you that Mr. Bruton’s class is the reason my junior year of high school was my last year of high school.

I took my senior year with a different approach. This year was more about maintaining. Maintaining my relationships, and maintaining my grades. When I say grades I mean that very loosely, as long as I didn’t slip up too much I was content with myself. This year my goal was primarily to get into college and then form stronger bonds with the people around me because I knew that after today I may never have that chance again.

One of the greatest things about Blue Ridge is that the community is so diverse that you can never not be entertained: to my favorite underclassmen, to people as funny as Naz, Tariq, Jonkai and Oscar, or people who are as knowledgeable as Brian, Evan, Hughes, Spencer and Roro, or people with the best taste in music and TV shows like my man Owen, or people who are extremely gifted like Kam and Joseph, or to my teammates like Pablo, Miguel, Huntley, and Elliot or to the people whom I will never forget like Josh, Aaron, Justin, Marcus, and Pearson (last one) or to the people who mean the most like George, Jarad, Albert, Matt, Jahlil, and I can’t forget my brother Harry.

For those of you who don’t know, Harry was my roommate for three years and that man is truly my better half. I’ve honestly never met anyone as kind hearted and free spirited as my boy. He has kept me in check and will always have my back and I the same. I am very grateful to have had him in my life.

I remember late nights when we would talk about how we would react when this day arrived. And now the day is finally here.

I remember as a freshman I would think about what I’d look like, if I’d have a full beard, be six feet tall and as you can obviously tell I met none of those expectations. However this day did come.

Over the course of these four years I took a lot of time for introspection. I spent a majority of my high school career trying to figure out who I truly was and that would not have been possible without all of you. My middle school showed me the guidelines of how to be a man, but Blue Ridge allowed me the space to figure out which man I wanted to become and that is something I will forever be grateful for.

And while these four years have not necessarily been hard they have been extremely long.  And I would not have made it if it wasn’t for my mom. The sacrifices you made and all the tears you shed are not in vain.

Everything I am is for you. Everything I am working toward is for you, this day is for you, and guess what mom, WE MADE IT!