Welcome Mrs. ______, Mr. ______, honored speakers, friends and family to the firstgraduation of ____________ We are the most fortunate students in SanAntonio because we were taught by teachers who not only cared about our education but for our souls also. Earlier this year we were given an assignment to write an essay on what I want the world to know. It was a very difficult assignment because it meant that I would have to put myself into it. What did I want the world to know? And then, I realized that I wanted everyone to know that I am a believer in myself and things that I do. I know that sometimes I am not always correct in the way I think. There are people who do not believe that I will be successful in my endeavors to be a teacher, but I stand here to tell you that I mean it with everything I have. I will, if I try hard enough and continue to have the support that I have had during these last 19 years, succeed. I believe that I am a strong person and do not give up even when I am told that I cannot do it. I will be persistent until the task is done. Being a strong person is a very difficult thing to deal with day to day. I know that I will always be a strong person and will never give up on myself, because that would be me giving up on every dream that I have ever dreamed of. I was born a leader and am sometimes not the one that I am supposed to be. Naturally I have made and will make mistakes but I have and will try to fix them, but all leaders make mistakes occasionally. Leaders are just like other people, they cry, hurt people’s feelings and sometimes are lost them-selves. Leaders are people who help change the world around you and one day I hope to help change things for the better. I think that I am the most fortunate of all the graduates because of the vast support system that I have had in my life. My mom always used to tell my sister and I that she was the luckiest mom in the world because she had two special girls, one God gave to her and one God let her choose. I think that I am the luckiest because I believe that God let ME choose and I couldn’t have made a better choice. God has been very good to me. He lead me to R______ when there was no place else I could go. It was a three room school house in the attic of the church. When I started the school I had a first grade reading level and in the six years I have been there I have raised it to a level that will allow me to enter Texas Tech University in the fall. I have been part of the growth of the school and feel both excitement and sorrow in leaving. This is an ending and a beginning for the four of us. I know that there is someone out there that will make you feel like you can never make it. Don’t listen to them! They don’t know what they are talking about. Look back at where you were and then look at where you are right now. They said you couldn’t get this far and you did. If you ask God he will tell you what he wants you to be. When I was younger I struggled with my self-esteem and didn’t think that I would be anything at all. Then I look at what I am today and realize that I can be anything that I put my mind to. God, the school. my mom, my sister and everyone else has helped me grow so much more than I ever thought I could or would. Thank you just doesn’t feel like enough to say but from the bottom of my heart I thank you all. I hope that my story will help change something about you, your thoughts or perception of me, learning disabled students or yourself I am really glad that you have listened to me and remember that you should never give up no matter what happens. This is always someone there to lift you up even if it seems that there is no one, remember there is God.
