Graduation has come and gone and it is weird to think that I will never be in the same company with all those people again. I’m not in the slightest bit sad, but I do not necessarily regret anything in the past four years. If I had to do it all again I would only make minor improvements (mostly grades). It still hasn’t hit me that I will not be attending CPHS next year. I figure it won’t hit me until I am about 30 some odd years old, or college. I would like to say that I will miss everyone I went to school with, but I largely won’t miss anyone (that’s the understatement of the year). I don’t know why, but on the whole people just tend to piss me off. I guess I’m weird, but then again do I really care, no. I just get very frustrated when I talk to close-minded ignorant people, who think they have some vague idea of what they are talking about, but really are just hicks and rubes who are more concerned about ahmurcah (America) than actual human lives. Now, that I have sufficiency gone off on a tangent let me bring you back to graduation. The ceremony itself when by quicker than I had first expected. I mean with 450+ students all having their names called you can imagine my thoughts. Of the speeches given I would have to say that Phil Hebda’s was the best (sorry Alex). His speech was an analogy between high school and a graham cracker (hence my title). A summary would be it can be divided into four squares representing each year and then he proceeded to eat each square without swallowing showing how it is harder and harder to eat each piece. It was creative and different which is why it stuck out. So let me applaud Phil Hebda on a speech well done. Now I have a major gripe with a speech that was given by salutatorian, Carrie Anderson. What the fuck! Way to god up my graduation! I saw it coming from a mile away too. She is a total bible humper for lack of a better term. No offense to her she is a nice person, but come on! Her entire speech was about how Jesus helped her find herself and died for our sins and all this constant bullshit. Public school is no place for religion. I have no problem with you worshiping or whatever outside of school, but don’t bring it into school and especially not into my graduation. The speech was not even subtle it was basically saying “if you haven’t found jesus you obviously are depressed or have not found the error in your ways.” It was also repetitive. “Jesus is awesome” “Jesus has shown me the way” “For Jesus I am truly thankful” There is nothing that makes me angrier than someone who preaches about religious tolerance and acceptance and does something like that. You don’t think people get enough christianity shoved down their throats from TV, News, Magazines, and especially this government (which by the way is doing an excellent job separating church and state). God bless America! Also, to the administrators of our school. I am very disappointed you let this happen. You spineless jellyfish. Have a backbone. Enforce separation of church and state. Someone along the line has to. So basically take your god speech and shove it. Save it for the sermon not the graduation.
This gripe is tied to graduation or at least the celebrations tied to graduation. I have noticed the trend of “the last.” Let me explain. Everyday I hear of some party going on because it is “the last” something. Oh geez, it’s the last time we will ever be all together in one place on a Tuesday in June of 2006. Everyday is filled with lasts we don’t need to celebrate every event just because we are done with high school. Which leads me to my next statement. Graduating from high school is not a big deal! You have to be absolutely brain dead not to receive a high school diploma. I mean look around you at some of the people with diplomas. It is not a huge reason to be proud. Take it for what it is. You completed one part of your life and it is time to start another, but don’t treat it as though it has been something that has required a terrible bit of effort (people who have received academic honors or high honors you are exempt from my criticism). It’s sad to think that this is where people are going to stop. People have so much potential, but they waste it. I mean only 26% of Americans graduate from college. That is such a low number and it is on the fall. Our principal, who I’m not all to fond of, made a good point. We are not competing with just Crown Point or Indiana we are now a global economy and as such are competing with the world.
Let me leave you with these sentiments. College.
P.S. I’ll have pictures up soon. I will also be updating more frequently now I have high school out of the way. So check back soon, all three of you.
*edit*
In my haste I did not make some things clear when first writing this. I would like to say that Carrie Anderson is a very nice person and I do not have anything against her as a person just with her speech and her ways of communicating her religious beliefs. Also, when I said I was going to miss no one when I move down to college, I might have exaggerated. It is more like I will not miss 98.875% of people when I move down. The other 1.125% you know who you are and you will be missed.