Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Good evening. Some of you out there may not realize this but those of you who attended Suntime Middle School have been with this guy for the last seven years. I would like to ask you all, not just Suntime Middle School grads and who all else, to join me in thanking Mr. Weather for his patience and dedication to the success of our education over the years. We are the Class of 2000. The first graduating class of the new millennium. The past four years have been pretty wild. We started out as a bunch of rats in a small cage, but as time went by we learned and matured and became big rats in a new small cage, but in any case, the cage door is now opening; the handlers turning us wild things loose. As we leave "Where the Wild Things Are," home to some of the best cat fights, fist fights and food fights this side of the Cascades, I have a little surprise for all of you sitting in front of me here tonight in your caps and gowns †¦ we ain’t seen nothing yet! One of my favorite books when I was little was "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. I’m sure many of you here tonight are quite familiar with it. It is about a young boy named Max who loves to dress up in his wolf suit and cause trouble. When his mother disapproves, Max creates a world of make-believe with his imagination in which he is king of all wild things. Here he is accepted and revered for his savage behavior. I loved it in my younger days because of the pictures of the big monsters and was jealous of the boy who got the chance to live with them. I always wanted to be that boy. To be a "wild thing," carefree, with no responsibilities or authority figure to answer to. "The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another his mother called hi... ...ere he found his supper waiting for him and it was still hot." It is now time to step out of high school and enter a world of choices. It is time to leave "where the wild things are," taking our experiences, memories and knowledge and follow our hearts and dreams. It is time to give thanks to all who have supported and helped us down this path. Thank your friends for being there for you, thank your teachers for preparing you, thank your parents for guiding you and thank all others who always made sure your supper was still hot. So as you hop in your sailboat and follow to where good smelling things are to eat, remember what you’ve learned from being in the world of the wild things. Take this experience and utilize it towards your future, because I guarantee you that what lies ahead for us is gonna make being a wild thing look like a walk in the park. Thank you.