It feels like forever ago since that breezy May night that we walked across the stage and became a Camden Alumni. Some of you may laugh and think that feels like a lifetime ago and others' may feel like it was yesterday, either way, it has been a hot minute since I had to worry about whether I had 1st or 3rd lunch. Your class ranking and who you were in high school have since been a thing of the past. With that time in between, we all grew up some and went our separate ways.Some of us joined the military and are serving our country all around the world. Others' are drinking their way through our sophomore year of college. Some of you may have even married and started a little family. Life is a funny thing because at one point we all walked the same halls, and had some of the same teachers, but now we are going a million different directions in our lives. No matter if your life took you far or you are still in Camden, remember all that you have accomplished.
The question is what chances have you conquered?
All those times when are only options were the Walmart parking lot or nights spent under the Friday night lights, but now your life is all you and you no longer have to be restricted by the small town ways if you wish. In the past year and half, you have probably said yes to a lot of things you should not have, but those are the lessons that helped mold you into the person you are today. I want you to know I am proud of our class even though some of you may feel like you haven't accomplished much let it be known that we are only in our early 20s and we have the rest of our lives to be put together. Now is the time to be taking chances like traveling to those places we always dreamed about or having nights too good that we will always remember, but wish we could forget. To the class of 2015, I applaud you for making it this far and hopefully taking the risks you never thought you could accomplish two years ago while waiting to get out of third block.
I hope you have fallen in love with life and realized that this is only the beginning! Setbacks are going to happen, you may struggle to make ends meet, fail a class or two, kiss the wrong people, but guess what it is okay you will survive!!! All the times we spent learning the quadratic equation and MLA format is nonsense compared to what we really needed to learn like how to balance a checkbook or an interest rate on loans. My wish is that you are not living a stagnant life, that you are striving for something more and following all of your dreams. Honestly, life is not going to be perfect right now because most of us are all still growing up, broke, and naive, but the beauty in that is we have something to look forward to. Someday in the near future, you'll be living the life God has paved for you and cherish the times you were struggling to the point you didn't know if you could make it another day. I promise we didn't go through 13+ years of schooling to not live a fabulous life. I hope someday to see some of you as state senators, successful business owners, serving our country, loving on children, enforcing laws, and maybe even President! When we pass each other at a stop light or see each other in Publix in the near future I hope to smile and make you realize I am proud of you! You were my people even when I was at the most awkward stages of my life and that is never forgotten, when you're a Wildcat your always a Wildcat!
So go make a life you always dreamed of because our past has shaped us into successful young men and women, even if you are still living under your parents' roof!
