High school graduation ceremonies typically celebrate the achievements and successes of the graduating students.
But Great Neck South High School’s salutatorian, Annie Yang, opened last Thursday’s graduation ceremony by talking to her fellow graduates about failure.
“Just because you failed doesn’t mean you have let down everyone who was rooting for you; duped everyone who believed in you; wasted the time of everyone guiding you; that you are no longer deserving of the love others have for you,” Yang said. “You’ve only failed when you allow one setback to hold you back from pushing yourself, from improving, from growing.”
Four hundred and sixty-three seniors from South High received their diplomas in front of a packed house of family members, friends and school administration at LIU Post’s Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Brookville.
Superintendent of Schools Teresa Prendergast said she felt the education at South High readied students for their post-high school lives.
“You are prepared and ready to move on to a life beyond South High School,” Prendergast said to the graduating seniors. “It is indeed gratifying to know that you have matured and are ready to tackle the challenges that lie ahead as you seek and work towards your goals.”
During her speech, she thanked all of the district’s teachers for their efforts in challenging students to become intellectually mature.
“Our many gifted and talented teachers have helped our graduates to discover their abilities and develop an inquiring mind,” Prendergast said.
While life in college would be a busy, she said, the students should always remember where they came from and call their parents often just to say hello and not when they are in need of something.
South High’s principal, Susan Elliott, told students that there might be a lot of pressure on them to figure out where they are headed in life, but they have time to determine what career path to take.
“Not everyone has a passion with a capital P,” Elliott said. “As your life unfolds, pay attention to what you like and what you don’t.”
She reflected on her first job answering phone calls in an empty office, thinking it would be a fit for her since she was all alone and did not have much to do.
“I learned that I liked to work and I liked to be busy, so I found the busiest job I could find,” Elliott said.
South High’s valedictorian, Emily Bae, said during her speech that students might feel like all eyes are on them all the time because of social media, family and friends, but they should not try to be what other people want them to be.
“If there’s anything I learned in high school, it’s that every external accomplishment starts from the inside,” Bae said. “I’m still trying to be a strong person, but sometimes you have to fake it until you make it.”
“Trust in your intuition and push yourself to turn your inner dream into an outer reality,” she added.
Bae said she told her friends she would avoid using clichés in her speech comparing life to a “road or path” because of all the different types of people that made up the graduating class.
“The class of 2016 is diverse and talented and everybody is different,’’ so don’t waste time living someone else’s life, she said. “There will always be someone smarter than you, wealthier than you, prettier and skinnier than you, more athletic than you, but everyone faces hardship in some way at some point.”
Annabelle Golden, one of four student speakers selected by the school to give a speech at the graduation ceremony, cited Dr. Seuss when telling her fellow graduates to be themselves and not what other people want them to be.
“As a freshmen, for the fear of not being cool, the person you are versus the person you let people see, are going to duel,” Golden said. “By the time you are a senior, I hope that you have learned, that pretending to be someone you are not, is surely acting a fool.”
Michael Shen, another graduate speaker, referred to a Chinese proverb in his speech about not limiting oneself to a single opportunity.
“I’m sure that all of you, like myself, have tripped, stumbled and maybe even occasionally fallen. And that’s OK,” Shen said. “Here in Great Neck there is the expectation that we will succeed every time on the first try, no matter the task or the difficulty. Unfortunately, that is not the case in the real world.”
Haley Roach, the third student speaker, reflected on overcoming her fear of change and how attending South High made her more confident.
“This school and the people have become my family and my home away from home,” Roach said.
Lance Kim, the final student speaker, delivered a speech which produced numerous bursts of laughter from the audience about the graduates and the roles they will play in society.
“I don’t know how to do laundry, balance a checkbook or pay my taxes, but I do know one thing: the world needs us, desperately, now more than ever,” Kim said. “We are unprepared underclassmen again, and that should be the most terrifying and exciting thought ever.”
