maan..it's over...all over....we graduated on may 29th, 3 pm in the toyota center...since leach wouldn't let me say my entire speech and made me leave out most of jace's, here's the speech as it is in it's entirety, with jace's awesome letter included as well (just in case yall don't know..jace is salutatorian, and couldn't make it to graduation...so he asked leach if he could write something have me read it for him....of course leach said no..)but whatever..this is the REAL speech that i SHOULD have read at graduation....BULLDOGS 04 baby!!!


Graduation Speech

As we are all gathered here today to commemorate the graduation of the Class of 2004, I would first like to recognize Mr. Jace Ricafrente, our salutatorian. Ever since our paths crossed in 7th grade, I’ve watched him mature over the years into an extremely intelligent, compassionate, talented, extraordinary, and just basically, terrific young man. A better, over-encompassing term that could be used to describe him would be: “Balla!” Unfortunately, he is not able to attend today’s ceremony, and without his electric aura present, he will be deeply missed. Jace, however, is not one to ever be slacking, and even though he cannot be here today, he has still written a touching salutatorian address that I have the honor of delivering, as follows:

My Fellow Graduates,
I apologize that I can’t be there to celebrate the success of this, the Bulldog class of 2004. I regret that I won’t be able to thank my parents, holla some shoutouts to my meow friends, give props to all the graduates, or thank all of our teachers…(pause)…oh wait, I just did. Most of all, I want to thank God for His many blessings because it was all Him, all of the time.
I especially regret that I won’t have the honor of introducing to you my good friend, our valedictorian, a girl I lovingly call “The Wang.” There is no one more deserving of such distinction, no one better suited to send us all into the scary world of college, jobs, and responsibility than Stephanie. No one, that is, but me. But if second place is the first loser, then there is no one I’d rather lose to.
Since now I’m just cutting into her time, I will again congratulate you all, the Stephen F. Austin High School class of 2004. I leave you with this final thought. Let us never forget the wise words of Mr. David Rockett: AUSTIN IS FOR HUSTLERS!

Sincerely,
Jace Ricafrente

I think one of the biggest fears that everyone had about me making this speech was that I would talk too fast through it all. And it’s true, there is a high probability that I could blast through this entire speech at breakneck speed – that’s something for the Guinness Book of World Records. It’s true – as many people can attest to – I have an interesting tendency to talk extremely fast, especially when I get especially excited about something. One of my friends once even tried to get me to speak at a slower pace by having me repeat the phrase “Talk with the tip of your tongue on your teeth” over and over again. It worked – try it – but only as long as I said that phrase. It was a good intentioned effort though.
Looking back on it now, I don’t think that this phrase applies solely to the act of speaking fast. Look back on your four years of high school. I honestly can’t believe how quickly those four years have seemed to not just pass by, but fly by at an even faster pace than I can talk! Think of all the achievements that each and every one of you has gained in those four years. With this, you can all walk tall and hold your head high, because all your hard work in those years behind you now is what has brought you here today, sitting here, about to graduate.
Be careful though, because the rest of your life in college and out into the real world will pass just as quickly, if you do not learn to slow down and make the most out of every moment of life that you can. Many times I have wistfully wished that I could rewind certain parts of my high school life and relive those moments again, but at a slower pace. Taking time to do things is actually a good thing, and may in fact give you better results. I still remember how one Tuesday at yet another early morning chemistry lab, we were getting extremely impatient waiting for our reaction to finish. Anxious to finish the lab before the first period tardy bell rang, we decided to “assist” the chemical reaction sitting inside the crucible by tripling the number of Bunsen burners actually needed. Needless to say, we had a percent error of over 80%. Moral of the story? Be patient and complete your tasks thoroughly – and stick to using only one Bunsen burner.
But back on track – this year in my Spanish class, we were given the opportunity to read many wonderful tidbits of verse, among which was this particular excerpt from a poem by the 16th century poet Garcilaso de la Vega:
“coged de vuestra alegre primavera
el dulce fruto, antes que el tiempo airado
cubra de nieve la hermosa cumbre”
which means,
(“take the sweet fruit of our joyful springtime, before the beautiful summit is covered with snow by the rancorous weather”)
In other words, Carpe diem! Each one of us only has one lifetime to leave our footprint on the earth, to contribute our lines of prose or verse to the indelible and interminable tome of history. Do not spend all your time blindly conforming to the dreary tick and tock of today’s fast paced society. Have some fun! Break some glass! Start a snowball fight! (or at least pretend to start one, since the word “snow” is nonexistent in Houstonian vocabulary.)
Throughout our existence, though, we are all influenced by the people that we meet throughout our lives by the impacts that each of them have had on us, like subtle brushstrokes on a detailed painting. Thank you to everyone over the years who have been those special people. To all the wonderful people that I have met throughout our years together in Sugar Land (especially all the old schoolers from Walker Station!) – I am truly blessed to have known each of you. I wish that I had taken the opportunity to get to know many of you earlier, because it was only towards the end of our high school years did I finally discover how amazing everyone is. From each of you I have learned something that I would not have had the chance to learn otherwise. One friend taught me that in the end, “everything always turns out all right,” and that butterflies don’t eat people. I learned that another friend is mind-staggeringly amazing on the guitar, and also that the color of the Celica really IS blue, not black. I learned that one of my second-grade buddies from Walker Station also has the same passion for Spanish literature that I do and that ACDC is not just a band, but can also be a rhyme scheme. From another friend, I learned that other than having mad basketball skills, this person is more talented than anyone I know in the realms of poetry writing, music composition (especially for those government mini-presentations!), and anything to do with computers. And one remarkable person, I first met in second grade, but it was not until nine years later did we discover that we were both “absurdly nerdy” and share the same love for Juanes and Brave New World. I also learned that anyone who brings an Xbox to school to play Halo on is automatically considered a hero. To all my teachers – I am amazed at the amount of effort and dedication that each of you have put into your work. The best part is that I am again, blessed, to have had such teachers who were able to demonstrate that they not only knew their material extremely well, but more importantly, were able to demonstrate their passion for what they were teaching. Through them, I have not only enriched my world in exponential amounts through the feast of Spanish, English, math, the social sciences and the laboratory sciences, but I have also garnered refreshing tidbits of interesting and fun information. For example, I discovered that the answer is ALWAYS “Watergate” or “re-election!”, that Julio Cortázar has got to be one of the coolest writers ever, and that for the sake of integration simplicity, it is best to assume the area of a horse as a sphere. This is the kind of environment that all of us need in order to be nurtured and educated as we march confidently into the realm of the real world outside of school. And last of all, but certainly not least, to my parents – they have supported and encouraged me in every way possible throughout every stage of my development. I really don’t know how they did it. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for being with me every step of my 17 years – all my achievements could not have been possible without you. I am biased, of course, but I will honestly say that my parents are truly the paradigm of all parents, and that I cannot even begin to imagine how different my life would be right now if they had not been there for me. I wouldn’t even be standing here right now. At this time I would like to recognize all the parents of the graduates in the audience today – without you, all of our lives would have been different on immeasurable scales. Today, as your graduating child walks across the stage, you will look at him or her with tears in your eyes as you realize that an era in both their life and your life has just made its final bow on the stage of life, but through the tears, you will see a grown young man or woman, who would not be what they are today without your support over their years. Thank you.
Despite all the influences that all these people will have on you, in the end, you are still the one who makes the final decision on who you will be. This is not a matter of what anyone else wants you to be. I want each of you, ten years in the future, to look at yourself carefully in the mirror, and ask yourself, “Is this who I want to be? Can I look at myself and truthfully say that I have no large gaping holes of yearning and passion lurking in the backstage platform of my life?” If not, then do something about it! Now! Throw off your mental mantles of subjugation and make your life the best you can make of it.
Carpe diem. Seize the day. But don’t just seize the day. Seize the week. Seize the month. Seize the year! Seize your life and don’t ever let anyone tell you that you cannot do something that you KNOW that you have the capability of doing. Find your passion, seize it, and never let go, or else you will regret it later in your life. Find that one thing, that whenever you think about it, it shoots electrical currents of hot excitement down your spine, grabs you by the hair, and makes you want to jump up on a rooftop and shout at the top of your lungs, “I’m alive! I am alive.” You are alive, and this is your life, your future. The world is yours! Live it up and seize the day! Here’s to you, Stephen F. Austin High School Bulldogs of 2004.