Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-10-17, Page 23THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019. PAGE 23. St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School Valedictorian Doney reflects on time at St. Anne’s By Marley Doney Good evening, members of senior administration from the school board, trustees of Huron Perth Catholic School Board, representatives of awards and scholarships, leaders of faith, St. Anne’s staff, parents, friends, family and, finally, graduates. My name is Marley Doney and I am honoured to be this year’s class valedictorian. I would like to take a moment to remember our four years here together. In Grade 9, we walked in on the first day wondering what to do and how the next four years were going to be. Since that day, we had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into. I mean, no one informed us that we would have to log into the WiFi every single day. We said “yolo” and “swag” as if we were supposed to, which seemed to be the language of the day. Thank goodness we have “yeet” now. Who knew we would have to walk around the track so many times for Walk for Wellness and we thought Joe Vo just enjoyed yelling “get your stickers” in the hallway every morning for two weeks straight. You knew when one of the tech boys had pulled into the parking lot because it was five minutes before class started and you could smell their rubber boots and exhaust fumes from inside the school. You see, we feared that in the hallways we would run into a staff member for something that we did earlier that day. But to look on the bright side, at least in math class we mastered the challenging problems in life like how to make mayonnaise, which luckily Mr. Marcy had just the recipe for and was more than willing to share. Though the best times were convincing our teachers to go for what we called “nature walks” all the way across the road to Tim Hortons. We all learned tips and tricks throughout our four years here, like if we were asked why we are constantly on our phones, you would always reply back “for educational purposes, we swear”. If we could not get “O’ Canada” to play for the morning announcements we knew we could always call on Zach to sing it for us. I have learned many things through high school, one of them being that the mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell. Will I ever need to know that? I don’t know, but I got that question right on the test, so here we are. On a more serious note, attending a Catholic secondary school has enabled us to further our education in a faith-centred learning environment. Having that faith- based education allowed us to celebrate God through word, sacrament, prayer, forgiveness and reflection, which motivated us to realize our own God-given potential and capabilities. Learning the Catholic social teachings and how we can consolidate them into our everyday lives has allowed us to further our beliefs and strive to become more involved in our communities because it simply feels immeasurable to help others. Attending a Catholic secondary school has provided us an opportunity as a class to achieve academic excellence, marked by faith, collaboration, dedication and a strong sense of acceptance which is clearly one of the school’s main goals. In the book of Jeremiah, we feel secure in our journey, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29: 11. That reminds us that God has a plan for us and we should trust in Him. We have several experiences from our years here and maybe just a hint of wisdom was gained from them. Someone once told me that we can learn wisdom in three ways: first by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest and third by experience, which is bittersweet. Knowing who you are will help you in times when you need to rise to the challenges that face you. Fight for the job you want, for the people who mean the most to you and for the kind of world you want. If you take the unexpected opportunities when they come up, if you know yourself, and if you fight for what you believe in, I can promise that you will live a life that is rich and full of meaning. For the class of 2019, things might not have always gone as intended, but it has revealed that we are resilient. We are confronted with infinite possibility and given an opportunity that we cannot let pass us by. Don’t let the voice of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. Most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. As I look out today, I see potential, I see future engineers, nurses, businessmen and women, teachers, mechanics, tradespeople, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, family members, religious leaders and community volunteers. I think everyone here is capable and has the capacity for greatness, which I know for a fact everyone can achieve. One of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, right here, right now, is to decide without hesitation to commit to the journey, and not to the outcome. Here we are with a future of life ahead of us, all of the years we have to live, all of the experience we have yet to have. Our lives up to this point have been laid out for us, but now we get to start making the real decisions. We have boundless freedom and potential to live a life that is only our own. To achieve success you must strive each day to move forward. You may not succeed immediately, but the lack of success only becomes a failure when you let it defeat you. Don’t let the moments pass by, look at yourself and see where this journey has taken you, think of the things you have learned and how you have grown in every way possible. Just as fast as today came, it will also leave. This is an important milestone on our journey. As we all head on our own ways, I wish everyone the best of luck battling against the freshman 15 whether you go off to school or not. And finally, everyone said this time would fly by, we have all been waiting for this moment and now here we are. From the very bottom of my heart, I wish every single one of you the very, very best and I thank you for this honour of being your valedictorian, as well as your Grade 12 representative for this 2018/2019 year. I will never forget all of the memories and friendships. I wish you luck on your future challenges and victories. Thank you. From left: St. Anne’s Principal Karen Tigani, Valedictorian Marley Doney, Catholic Student of the Year Hannah Tait and Vice-Principal Chris Grace 541 Turnberry St., Brussels 519-887-9114 405 Queen St., Blyth 519-523-4792 Congratulations to all the Graduates Visit our website for store hours and product information www.microagebasics.com 223 Huron Rd., Goderich 519.524.9863 214 Josephine St., Wingham 519.357.1554 665 Philip Pl., Kincardine 519.396.3274 Congratulations Graduates! Congratulations Graduating Classes of 2019 Congratulations Graduating Classes of 2019