What I want to talk about today is adversity, as that is something we will all certainly face throughout our lives.

I always have it stuck in the back of my mind that you do and say what you do out of pure care for our student body and, more specifically, me.

I don’t really have the words to describe how I feel at this moment. I remember watching these graduations from a classroom wearing my blue oxford and thinking, “I can’t imagine doing that. I feel like I’ll never get there.”

Hey guys! Alright, so I guess we can just get right into it; I have been here for a very short amount of time—as many of you know—only 10 months. I will say that the last 10 months of my life have been the most challenging and tiring months of my life so far.

In my time at Spring Ridge, I’ve brought the life back into myself and come to love every part of it. I’ve discovered that life is precious, and I’ve found what makes it meaningful to me. I believe that the most valuable change in me is that I’ve learned to love; I’ve learned to love others, I’ve learned to love life and I’ve learned to love myself.

Once upon a time, there was a curious little girl. This magical child saw herself as special and loved herself. As she grew older, that confidence and spontaneity disappeared. This magical child no longer felt good enough or worthy. The next few years became The Dark Years.

I arrived at Spring Ridge Academy at 17, very much stuck inside the mind of a younger version of myself. I was lost, disconnected from the world, filled with self-hatred, and ready to give up.

Dear Stranger: You don’t know much about me. Hey, I don’t know much about you. But please understand that I don’t care what you’ve done.

When I was around the age of 17 I was in a state of crisis. I isolated myself from the world, secluded from my parents, my friends and even myself. I was in my second semester of my junior year of high school when, out of severe concern, my parents decided to send me to Spring Ridge Academy.

I’d like to start off today’s celebration by posing a question … What is education? Is it having a 4.0 GPA in high school? Is it getting a college degree from an Ivy League school? Or is it becoming a brain surgeon?