Great Neck North Salutatorian: Set Your Permanent Record Free

The Permanent Record. It’s a report of every mistake you’ve made over the past four years. Some people believe that our Permanent Records are so important that they are guarded by the top members of the CIA and maybe even a flock of Dementors. For after all, how else could anyone explain Mr. Kaplan and Doctor Kraus’ mysterious phone calls? Obviously, the only logical explanation is that they are constantly communicating the sins of the students to the keepers of the Permanent Record who will undoubtedly publicize our sins at the most inopportune time, right?

My first introduction to the Permanent Record was an episode of Hey, Arnold. In the episode, if my memory serves me correctly, Arnold’s Permanent Record was depicted less elaborately, as just a piece of paper with his name boldly written across the top in red, lying in a filing cabinet. Yet, just the concept of it sent shivers down my spine. In fact, I blame that moment for ending my childhood, for making me realize that my actions today shape my dreams of tomorrow. 

What do you think is written on your Permanent Record? I know that for many of you this might be a hard task, but I’m here to help you out. I’ll give you a couple of suggestions that might get the juices flowing: Maybe there is the time you were forced to go to detention for coming to school at 8:01? Or how about the time Mr. Kaplan called you out during an assembly for texting on your phone? And who could possibly forget the time you cut gym one-too-many times and received a scary email from guidance about your senioritis?

We’ve all made mistakes in high school and most of us would probably have made a couple of different choices in hindsight if given the chance. Wouldn’t you just love to take white out and erase all the regrets and mistakes, the little black demerits?

Well I’m here to tell you that you don’t need a magic wand to reverse the clocks nor will you need to speed over to Staples in order to purchase enough whiteout to sufficiently cover-up all your demerits. No, you will not have to do anything at all because, believe it or not, you have already done all you need to do: you have made it to this auditorium and to this stage and to this day. You are a soon-to-be-high-school-graduate. Today is the bittersweet day students anticipate with excitement and anxiety. Today is the special day when Permanent Records are discarded behind us, replaced with a clean slate and endless possibilities before us. Today is the joyous day when we come together to celebrate the milestone we have reached and the many achievements, friendships, and memories that have been a part of the journey.

We celebrate the unity, strength, and support that have become the epitome of our class; from Freshmen year as our community resisted threats from members of the Westboro Baptist Church, to Senior year as we offered homes, hot water, and electricity to each other in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. We celebrate chants of “One three, one three!” “Twenty-Thirteen!” and “SATs-MIAMI!” We celebrate Mr. Kaplan’s million-dollar-check speeches that always encouraged us to take advantage of our high school years, Doc’s crazy ties that always brought smiles to our faces, Mr. Levine’s love for the Islanders that reminded us to cheer for the success of others, and Mrs. Hugo’s quiet nature that showed us that we don’t need to be loud in order to have a voice and make a difference. We celebrate cheese bagels, advisory schedules, open campus, Deli coffees, and Deca Pizza Wednesdays. We even celebrate physics teachers who run into doors and sit on beds of nails the first day of class, lunch ladies who make us pay for forks and packets of ketchup, and librarians who insist that only four people can sit at a table.

We celebrate all of these memories because we will always keep them, regardless of how much time passes or how many miles we wander; they are our only true permanent record.

Today, regardless of the differing paths we took to surmount this summit and the diverging paths we will take tomorrow, we all leave the same—young adults treasuring memories of our high school years yet ready to embark on the journey that awaits us.

Just look around, there are some amazing people surrounding you, each with his own set of fears, accomplishments, regrets, and dreams. And as you look around, realize that all of us will never again be together as we are right now. Remember this moment for who knows when we will see each other next? Remember this moment because before you know it, it’ll be gone. Remember this moment, just remember it. And as you walk out the doors today and into the unknown, set your Permanent Record free; let it fly like a bird into the stratosphere. It has no control over you anymore. And remember you are the only one who is keeping tabs on all your mitzvoth and mistakes. You have complete control over your future and the choices you make. And remember to live life to its fullest because you only live once. After all, nothing is truly permanent.