Graduation Speech: I Am Crowd Member No. 5 :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Well, my fellow graduates, this is really it. We are all probably feeling mixed emotions right now. Some feeling sweet relief that it is finally done, over, and finished. Maybe a twinge of sadness and nostalgia because pretty much all you have known for a good majority of your life has come to an end. I am sure by now we have all heard that question, "What are you going to do after high school?" Some of you do have definite plans and know exactly what you are going to be doing. But, if you are anything like me, you have probably rolled quite a few things around in your head and you have a pretty good idea of what you might do. Maybe all you have thought about is getting the heck out of here and meeting new people. But no matter what you do or whoever you meet, those new people and places are going to have one less thing in common with you. They won’t know what is was like going to a small school and knowing everybody’s face, or running to the lunch line on Wednesday for a hoagie, or hatching corny skits for assemblies, or marching in the parade at Homecoming. All of us in this room tonight have something in common, and high school is not something you forget. It only happens once and you can’t go back! (For most of us anyway.) So since we can’t stay here, we have to go somewhere else and make something of ourselves. But what are we going to do? What do we want to do? Sometimes, what we want to do isn’t exactly what we end up doing. We all have dreams. Everyone does, like myself for example. I know exactly what I want to do, but it doesn’t happen to be what everyone else likes to do as well .... and that’s to act. Whether it be a commercial, on stage, or in a movie, I like to act. It is what I love doing. What do I have to lose in trying. What do all of you have to lose in pursuing your dreams? I’m going to try my hardest to do what I love, even though members of my family and some of my friends are concerned that all I will get is a pimple cream commercial, or an insignificant role as "Crowd Member No.