My Graduation Speech to the Class of 2023

Around this time is when high schools and colleges are having graduation ceremonies. One of the main parts of the ceremony (in addition to handing out diplomas), are the speeches given by various people whether it is the class president, valedictorian, or a guest speaker. Usually the guest speaker is some famous person or an alum, and there has been some memorable ones like Steve Jobs, Chadwick Boseman, and even Marvel Studios president, Kevin Feige. At my high school graduation, I didn’t give a speech because I was neither the class president or valedictorian. Plus, I didn’t take the speech class that was offered, meaning I had no clue on how to write one. I didn’t even give a speech at my college graduation because obviously it was cancelled due to the pandemic. I don’t think I will ever be invited to a school to give a commencement speech because I won’t be famous or have achieved something stellar. Instead, I have written this speech for this year’s graduating class since I have a blog, and I can do anything on it. Just pretend I am at your ceremony giving this speech rather than reading it off of your electronic devices. You can also consider this an alternative speech if your guest speaker didn’t give a great one. Hopefully, you will find it impressive because again, I have never taken a speech class so I am not sure how I will sound speaking it rather than writing it. With that out of the way, here is my first “official” graduation speech.

Hello graduates of the Class of 2023! After what seems to be a really long journey, you have finally made it to your graduation day. Before I begin, I want to take the time to thank the families, friends, teachers, mentors, and many more. These people are like the “crew” and “audience” of your real-life movie or TV show. They directed, created, and supported the "lead stars" that you are today. Sometimes, they may have been shocked at the “plot twists” that came along your way. Even if some of the “episodes” had low ratings, they still watched your “plot” unfold. Now, they have come to the final act to see how it all ends. Don’t worry though, they will return for another season or sequel of your life.

Now to be honest, I am not a famous celebrity unlike so many other graduation ceremonies that had one as their guest speaker. To be fair though, I didn’t have a celebrity speak at my high school graduation. I didn’t even have one speak at my college graduation, let alone not have a ceremony at all due to the pandemic. Unless you count former president Barack Obama speaking to you (and hundreds of others) through a computer screen on Youtube. I am just an average adult still trying to get through life, and the only things I have succeeded in are, creating a personal blog and watching all current Marvel movies and shows. Heck, I didn’t even speak at my own graduations because I wasn’t smart enough to be a valedictorian. If at some point you start to get bored of this speech, you can jump on Youtube and watch one of the celebrity speeches. Don’t worry, I won’t make this long just so we can all get through this ceremony quick, and start the celebrations because that is the part everyone looks forward to. The point is that I was in the same shoes you are all in. I went through the ups and downs of high school and college not knowing what my future was going to be like. I came out of it still figuring out what I want to do with the rest of my life. I am sure you are all wondering the same thing, and having feelings of nervousness and anxiousness of the unknown. I am going to tell you right now that it is going to be okay. No matter what happens after you walk across that stage, your life will still go on as long as you do what makes you happy.

I am now going to share a quote from a famous leader who led a unique group of people. “Just because someone stumbles and loses their way, doesn’t mean they’re lost forever.” That was from Professor Charles Xavier who is the leader of the X-men, and the 838 Illuminati from Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. When you started your educational journey, some of you already had a clear path of what you wanted to accomplish such as getting into your dream college, or applying for your ideal career. If some of you didn’t know what your path was, then that is okay as well. As you started going down the path, you learned what your passions were, what talents you had and how you could use them. You even learned about your strengths and weaknesses, your allies (and maybe your enemies). Along the way, you had to go through different challenges in order to continue going down your path. It could’ve looked like a big exam, essay, a championship game, or a growing relationship. However, there were times when your path wasn’t straightforward, and those roadblocks caused a delay or a total change in your path. Suddenly that failed exam, season-ending injury, the big upset loss in the game, or even that college app rejection caused you to stumble a little. As you took in that defeat, you had thoughts that you weren’t going to get into your top school, or get your dream job, and you couldn’t complete your entire path like you had planned out. You might have also thought that everyone else’s path looked great, but yours wasn’t. But then, you start to get back up and come up with a new plan, or keep going down your path a different way. Eventually, you all completed your paths which is why you are all here celebrating in caps and gowns. Now, you are all just waiting to complete a new path in your life. You may have gotten lost along the way, but you weren’t lost forever.

Now my path going from high school to college and beyond wasn’t straightforward either. My high school plans were to take AP courses, get into a good college, and get good grades. Unfortunately, most of that didn’t happen, and my high school years didn’t turn out how I wanted it to be. My grades were mediocre, and things weren’t always perfect academically, socially, and mentally. I applied to a few colleges, but my first college app was not an acceptance but a rejection. It wasn’t until my third college app when I got accepted, and it wasn’t even one of those big, top schools. Sometimes I felt like my path wasn’t the same as my classmates in comparison. You can say it was like one of those alternate timelines that gets pruned by the Time Variance Authority, or TVA, from Loki. Even though my high school years weren’t the best, I still managed to make the best of them with whatever I had, and I was able to attend a college that I loved; even if it wasn’t my first choice. However, the obstacles didn’t end there. When I graduated from college, I had no idea what I wanted to do for my future career. I didn’t have a job lined up, and hardly anyone was hiring (due to the pandemic). A year after I graduated, I finally got a job, and you would think that everything would be fine after that right?! Well, it turns out that job was in a toxic work environment, and I ended up getting fired 6 months later. Just when I thought I was on my way to success, I come across a huge roadblock that changed my path completely. From there, I was completely lost as I had no back-up plan for my future. I thought I had really failed this time. I was unemployed for an entire year while trying to apply for as many jobs as possible, but the path didn’t seem clear. I didn’t even tell anyone how my postgrad life after college was because they would think I am unsuccessful. Then, I came up with a creative idea, and decided to write out what I have been going through by publishing my own personal blog. From there, I wrote blog posts on all kinds of topics that were personal to me such as my post-grad life, why I got fired, and the difficulties of job-searching. I even wrote about things I was passionate about like Marvel, music, and even the importance of mental health. This personal blog helped me get through the job search process, and soon enough I was able to get a new job. With my new hobby and new job, it is starting to look like the path is becoming clear. Well, not quite because my current job just ended and I am once again job-searching. However, once I get my new job I will get back on track.

As you can see, you shouldn’t let failure stop you from trying to achieve your goals. Sure, it might change your plans, but eventually you will end up where you want to be. Even if your path to success doesn’t look the same as everyone else’s, no one can prune your timeline. No one is perfect, besides, even some of the most famous people had failures before their big successes. As former Saturday Night Live cast member, Leslie Jones once said, “sometimes, you got to fail before you succeed.” Even as you look among your classmates that are graduating with you, you may or may not realize that every single one of you has a different story. There are some who are at top of their class, and are graduating with honors. However, there are also those people who are underdogs (like me) who faced many challenges in their education. There were some who skipped their classes (for whatever reason), but are still sitting here today. There are also some who took a little bit longer to finish college, and let’s not forget the ones who are parents that decided to pursue higher education while still taking care of their families. Regardless, you all made it to your graduation day, and you should be proud of yourselves. Now, you can go out into the real world and inspire other people that they can achieve the impossible.

So, as you are thinking about your next chapter, don’t worry about failing. Embrace it, and come out as a stronger person. Remember, if you ever stumble and get lost on your path, find a way to get back on it or just create a different one. Don’t worry about anyone else’s future, just focus on yours. Everyone has their own unique talent, passions, and skills which can be used in any situation. Go out there, and keep doing what you love because that is what is going to carry you further in life. Good luck, and congratulations to the Class of 2023!