Graduation Speech: Footsteps on a Beach :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

No love, no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever. Like footsteps on a beach. People come in and out of our lives, leaving us changed in some shape or form. Like footsteps along our trail of destiny. Love: the people who care about us, the people we care about in our lives. Our family, friends and loved ones have all contributed to who we are as graduates, today. Our parents have raised us to believe in ourselves. To make the best of who we are. Our parents were raised by our grandparents with similar beliefs and expectations, as were we. My grandfather has influenced my life in numerous ways. I have many memories of him, he has made me laugh through all the fun times that we had together, but he also made me cry. When I was a freshman my grandfather became deathly sick. As the months flew by and I stood by his side, he became increasingly ill. In the early spring of that year my grandfather passed away right before my eyes. That was an unforgettable moment in my life. My grandfather taught me to accept, to accept both life and death. He showed me that life moves on, people you love will leave you and that through it all it only makes us stronger in the end. It's loved ones in our lives, like my grandfather, who are the breath within us that give us courage to follow our hearts. Friendship: the most important part of our high school years that we cherish the most. Every good friend that has come into our lives, like footsteps that we encounter along a walk on a beach, leaves us with a different perspective of who we really are. The activities that we are involved in throughout high school introduce us to life changing friends. My freshman year, during track, I met one of those special friends. We ran the same distance races; together we shared that special bond as teammates. She's always been an extraordinary athlete, who runs with her heart, who I have always looked up to. At the district championships we were warming down together. I told her how she inspired me and that I felt that she was my hero. The next thing I knew I found myself singing. She made me stop before I could finish, otherwise she would have started to cry.