Ridgefield High Valedictorian: 'Embrace the Opportunity to Grow'

RIDGEFIELD, CT -- Ridgefield High School held its commencement exercise for the Class of 2018 on Friday. The text of the speech by Valedictorian Raymond Sun is presented below:

Well, look at us. We’ve made it. This graduation is a day we’ve waited for and imagined for, God, how many years. In a few months, we’ll be going our separate ways, scattered across the world.

We’re at a weird and uncertain point in our lives right now. We have to say goodbye to our friends and family. Many of us will be thrust into unfamiliar environments, surrounded by new people. And through all of this, we somehow need to figure out what our future holds, and what exactly we’re going to be doing with ourselves.

I don’t know about you, but I’m nervous. Nervous that I have to start over, that I have to readjust to a new setting, nervous that I have to, well, be a freshman again. I still remember freshman year. Everyone else was so much bigger than me, and I had no idea what was going on. I forgot what that felt like, but, well, I gotta get ready for that again. I have to go from confidently walking in the halls of RHS to being that new guy who knows nothing. That’s nerve-wracking, right? I doubt I’m alone in my sentiments.

Because there’s so much we haven’t learned, and a world out there that we have yet to experience. I mean, I’m still a kid, legally, for another two days. With our lack of experience comes a lot of room for us to grow. And we’ve done a lot of growing over the past four years, but that doesn’t mean we’re stopping any time soon.

Embrace the opportunity to grow. Embrace the uncertainty that comes with growth. And, with that, embrace the ability to make mistakes. To do that, we must first recognize when we’ve erred. That’s alright; we’re still adjusting to the world around us, after all. Don’t lament mistakes, though. Reflect on them. A mistake is only malicious if it does not teach a lesson.

And if we remember this, our futures become, well, more uncertain. But that’s good. That means that we’re not done learning, not about the world around us, not about ourselves.

The past four years have taught us a lot, but we have a lifetime to decide what we make of what we’ve learned here. We’re blessed with time, time to figure out what brings us joy, and time to pursue whatever that is. And if we stick to that plan, then life gets, for once, a little more certain.

Pictured: Raymond Sun

Photo provided by RHS