BHS Graduation Speech: Rachel Sabbath

Following is the speech senior Rachel Sabbath delivered Thursday evening at :

Good evening.

Life has been described as a lot of things by a lot of people… Ralph Waldo Emerson called it “an experiment”, life is “like riding a bicycle” according to Albert Einstein, Truman Capote called it “a moderately good play with a poorly written third act”, and John Lennon said “it is what happens to you while you’re making other plans”. These were all brilliant people and very creative analogies. But my favorite analogy for life was made by a batty old grandma in the 80s movie Parenthood. It’s a simple idea but it transcends any milestone, mid-life crisis, or other big event. Grandma says of a roller coaster, “it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it.”

Well, tonight marks the end of an adventure; A roller coaster ride that has lasted not 30 seconds, but the last four years. I’m sure everyone has memories of being tired, angry, frustrated, disappointed, and fearful over those 4 years. So then why are we, at the same time, able to cry tears of sadness, over the fact that it’s all ending? Because it’s true what Grandma said, on a bumpy ride, you do get so much more in the end.

Today, we graduate with more than the ability to solve a quadratic equation, list the bill of rights, or write a research essay. We graduate with the ability to think optimistically and confidently. Because mixed in with the memories of bombed chemistry finals and the severe sleep deprivation, we have memories like scoring a winning goal, performing in a musical, or spending a night out with friends. These are the moments that get lost in the shuffle of our hectic lives, and our lives are about to get much more hectic. But as long as we remember that every life is a roller coaster and that the best part of the roller coaster is its ups and downs, be will be ok.

Now that we are graduating, the No. 1 question people ask us is “what are your plans?”. I can’t be the only person who’s annoyed with that question. I just want to ask them back, “when you were my age, did you have your whole life planned out?” I’m sure they would say no. The better response, in my opinion, to that age-old question is “plans are so overrated”. Life is like the world’s biggest buffet. There are so many things to try and mix together. My advice is, taste everything, knowledge doesn’t have any calories. Get fat on experiences and never stop being hungry for more. Because the truth is you don’t have to know how to get to where you’re going, you don’t even have to know where you’re going; you just have to have an open mind, positive attitude and… one last thing. I believe that the final ingredient in the recipe to an extraordinary life is Generosity. Don’t use your energy to make plans, use it to act, to make a change in the world, to be generous with your time and your life. Our family, friends, teachers, mentors of any kind have already been generous with their time, now it’s our turn to pay it forward. It is finally our turn to take what we’ve learned and run with it. Before today, it may have been difficult to realize just how much we’ve learned. But just think back to the days of childhood, when the most exciting thing was probably riding a plastic pony round and round in circles at the fair. Compare those memories with ones of returning to the ground after a ride on the Dragster at Cedar Point. If you aren’t convinced now, I am confident you will, at some point, discover that as terrifying as a roller coaster can be, it is still better than the merry-go-round.

Years from now, we will want to share with our grandchildren, like Grandma in Parenthood did, the things we tried, the times we won, lost, succeeded, failed, and the roller coasters we rode. All of that starts now.

I would like to congratulate the entire Berkley High School class of 2012. Tomorrow we will board a different roller coaster and we will start the cycle all over again. Hold on! And Good luck!