Graduation Speech : High School

I have been going to school since I was four years old and, that means that I have been attending school twenty to twenty two years, including kindergarten, middle school, high school and now college. As every student, I had my ups and downs in school; I had some failures and some successes. One of the failures that affected me the most and that I will always remember was the time that I was in high school during my junior year. I failed almost all my classes and, I only passed two classes and with a C. In the other hand I had some really good success. The most recent one and the one that I am still happy about is getting my Family Development Credential. We learn from our mistakes and also from our successes, these two times in my life

A higher education has been an important priority in my life. While I realized a high school education was important, my parents expected more. They said if I wanted to succeed in life, a college education was something that I could not live without. What they don’t tell you is how exhausting and confusing the process is to get even into.

As a freshman in high school, school was my least favorite place to be and I also dislike going to class. My grades were inadequate by the time I was a sophomore. Toward the end of my sophomore year I met Dawn Pollman Kivlehan who is a teacher at Fowler High School. She is the head of the ESL (English as a Second Language) department. Mrs. Kivlehan was born and raised in Syracuse, New York and lived in a neighborhood called Tipperary Hill. She enjoyed in spending time with her family, listening to music and watching Fowler soccer. She had a bad habit of drinking Diet Pepsi every morning. I remember every morning she drinks Pepsi. She played field hockey in college and basketball in her early age. Her eyes changes color depending on the clothes she wears and, then green when she’s upset. Mrs. Dawn is fashionable during the week she always dressed up except Fridays. Friday she wears her soccer t-shirts. (She really loves wearing sweatpants after work). Dawn Pollman Kivlehan is hardworking, helpful, and very beloved teacher. (I can really say that she is one of the hardest working person I know)

When children start off school they’re exited to go learn, meet new friends, and experience what school is really about. As they go into their middle school environment starts to change. Girls and boys going through changes, asking many questions because they want to know. By the time students enter high school, they’re unsure of what they want to do in life and that’s completely understandable. When they have reached their senior year in high school and they still don’t know what they plan on doing in life, that’s when they decide to graduate from high school, but not continue with their education because they are undecided on the career path they want to take. In 2013 about 65.9 percent of high school graduates enrolled in a post-secondary educational program, whether it be a community college or university. High school doesn’t prepare students for college, that’s why most students don’t make it past their first semester in college. High school students still have much to learn and when they make the transition from high school to a 4 year university it overwhelms them.

It was my senior year in high school and graduation was inching closer and closer. My high school principal stood on the stage of our auditorium introducing me as the recipient of the Principals Hall of Fame Award. As he stated proudly “Desiree aspires to return to North Miami Beach Senior High to teach science” it was hard for me to conceal my shock. How had he misinterpreted my future plans into becoming an educator and even more, to returning to my high school? I was sure that this was all a misunderstanding and I would continue on towards becoming the Neonatologist I had always dreamed of, still connected to children but only in the first moments of their lives. Little did I know, my principal was more in tuned to my destiny than I thought. I look back on this moment and it supports my belief that education has always been my calling.

Incoming freshmen and students all over campus are struggling with the transition from high school to college. I personally had trouble transitioning into college and found myself to be confused when it came to figuring out how to study and what resources were available to me. One of the biggest issues students have is not being able to find the resources that they need. Whether it is finding tutoring or needing help with time management, it is difficult to find and determine what resources that they need. “I am extremely frustrated and tired of not being able to find our resources on campus. I spent hours online a couple of times trying to find the list of resources on our campus, but I had no such luck”(Hazelton). Kendall is one of the many students, like myself, on campus who is having the issue of not being able to seek the help that she needs. To address and possibly solve this problem, I want to create an app to help students have an easier transition from high school to college. The app will include a list of where and what resources are available; an agenda to help plan schedules, appointments, and study hours, and tips on time management and studying. This app will help students on campus get the help that they need without the frustration of not being able to find something.

Good morning, how is everyone today? Wonderful! I am glad you all are well. I hope you did your homework last night! If you did, you will be getting a gold star on your homework worksheet. Anyways, let us begin our day with the bell ringer. Please complete the three math problems that are on the board. You must do these by yourself... and yes, that includes you Jonathan. You don 't want me to have another conference with your mother, right? That 's what I thought. You will all have ten minutes, so go ahead and begin. We will go over them together after time is up. They will help us review our long division, which I introduced yesterday. If you have any questions, please raise your hand.

The most anticipated moment in High School occurs at the start of Junior year; students come to the realization that college is right around the corner, so they must begin their college research. Some High Schools hosts college fairs or college visits which would help students begin their college research. There are many factors that must be considered when choosing the right college such as cost of tuition; location; academics; wide range of majors, and most importantly if you meet the requirements. One major fact that either prevents or encourages a student to apply to a specific University is the acceptance rate. If the acceptance rate is low, like Stanford (the acceptance rate in 2016 was 4.8%) High School seniors are less likely to apply. Students also have to carefully choose the colleges they want to apply to because college application are expensive, averaging ninety dollars per application. The minimum number of colleges that students are told to apply to varies from counselor to counselor. Students could always apply to more colleges but the application fees add up. Therefore, students tend to gravitate towards colleges that they have a higher chance of getting accepted into. A plan that has been implemented in several universities called The Affirmative Action plan promises to increase diversity on college campuses and ensuring racial and gender inclusion. For example, there would be an increase of minorities on campus. With this in mind, more minority students

High School graduation can be an exciting time in a student’s life. It is a time when they

As spring comes to an end and summer is soon to begin, many high school seniors will embark on their last true summer before going off to college. Many of these kids may be receiving a scholarship or a grant, or a bill to help pay for school, and have to pay the rest out of pocket to cover the remaining expenses. With the economy still not being as strong as it once was, and many people trimming down their budgets, economic resources may be scarce, many people resort to the only choice they have left and take out student loans. Which in essence is what is crippling our economy.

When you think of students in college you think of hard homework assignments, long essays with short due dates, the last minute studying for exams and of course the partying that everyone looks forward to when it comes to being in college. Do you ever think about what happens when you don’t do the homework, not turn in the essay on time and do horrible on the exams and party a little too much? When this happens, grades tend to fall and when grades tend to fall it usually means you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing, and when you’re paying thousands of dollars for an education most people can’t afford to take college as a game being played. For most students they don’t have a choice but to drop out because of all these outcomes.

Please join me in thanking Mr. Moore, our Band director, and our award winning Jupiter High School band for their performance today.

High school seniors are typically in 17 to 19 years old. Because these students are relatively young and sometimes inexperienced, society often views them as naïve. Ironically, this same society pressures them to make critical life decisions. For instance, the majority of these students must determine whether to attend college or not. The students who do end up choosing college as their next step in life must then carefully select a major associated with their desired future career. Only a few students lean toward majors that match their passions. However, why do the rest of the students end up choosing the “prosperous” majors even if they are not passionate about it? The root of this dilemma lies in how society shows favoritism for “prosperous” majors, such as science, math, technology, political science, and business majors. Since society perceives them as the ideal majors and pressure students into choosing these majors. Because parents have a position of authority, they also play a significant role in this process and may even manipulate their child into choosing what they think might be best for them.

High school students in China are faced with many challenges throughout their education. Some of these challenges include taking the Gaokao exam in order to receive a diploma. The Gaokao exam, also known as the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, is an academic examination that high schoolers need to take prior to entering any higher level education in the future. This test consist of mathematics, Chinese literature, English, and the choice of humanities or natural sciences. Over a course of two days, Chinese students must test for nine hours. It is typical to say that the Gaokao is the most important exam in China for every Chinese students. Nearly every student would need equivalent to ten years of education to have the necessary preparation for this exam. When facing the Gaokao exam, students tend to not drop out of school early to avoid the test, they typically try to accomplish the test again even though they are discouraged from narrowly failing, and the students that narrowly pass the exam and achieve their diploma are more likely to be successful in China’s labor market than the students that narrowly failed to pass the exam. The Gaokao exam is a very important exam in China because it required for higher education and jobs.

When did you decide your major in a university? Some people find their dreams when they’re kids, and for them this question is meaningless. I chose my major when I was in a senior year of high school. To tell the truth, in Japan, this is late. In Japan, students have to state a major when they apply for a university, and majors hold their own enrollment examinations. This means that high school students have to finish deciding their major while they are in high school. In order to be ready for this, teachers ask high school students their first, second and third choices of universities and majors right after starting their freshman, and then they will study for the enrollment examinations, which is the biggest purpose. What if students cannot decide these major yet? They probably choose well-known universities and interdisciplinary majors. However, most students are careless about how much the decisions mean to their lives. If they have specific plans or views of their lives, they can begin preparing for the next steps that mean they are able to be a few steps ahead of other students. More preparing has a lot of worth. Therefore, the best way to succeed in Japan is thinking about an educational decision early because of the better quality of study, the connection among majors, universities and jobs, and the correlation between majors and our personalities.