| This is mainly a message to the seniors. I'm sending it to a lot of people and i still want you to read it even if you are not. I guess this is just my opinion on a few certain things. First of all, I don't understand the extremely pitiful sad messages in the year books. Yes, we may be leaving for a while and yes we may not see some people for a bit, but good lord, we aren't dying of cancer. We will see each other again. So stop with the sadness. We are graduating kids! We are not burying our grandmother. The tears that come from our eyes on graduation night will not be tears of sadness. They will be tears of a past that is hard to let go of, and an uncertain future. There has been numerous memories made, from our elementry school days, when our only worry was if the red ranger was going to win the battle, to our high school days when we realized that we were no longer little boys and girls anymore, but young men and women with real responsibilities. I know that life hasn't gone well for a lot of us. A lot of you were picked on and made fun of. You went home some days and cried yourself to sleep. I know what it was like. Your life sometimes became a toss up between going to school (and be laughed at and de-humanized) or a quick gun shot to the head. The latter seemed like it would hurt less. There is nothing that will erase these memories seared into your brain. They are yours now. Make the best of them. There are a few lucky ones that were popular and had all the friends and went to the greatest parties. Congratulations to you! You have had it easy so far. Don't let it go to your head out in the real world. People aren't quite as nice outside the safe secure walls of high school. Don't let your easy ride cause you to become lazy. I have always tried to treat everyone the same, from the unknown quiet kid to the popular jock. I wish you all great success, but you are going to have to work for it. The only person going to help you make it through life is yourself. No one else. One of the unfortunate things about graduating is that we find out that the friends that were always there to help you with your problems and bail you out of jail are no longer going to be able to do that. They will still care for you, but hopefully they will grow up and realize that they can't help you because they are going to have just as many problems as you. There are going to be many ups and downs in adult hood but don't think for a second that you are the only one experiencing them. Everyone will eventually feel the same way you do. Don't sweat the small stuff. If you hold on to the past, your future will be horrible. Let everything bad go, and make way for the new. I hope that each and every one of you go out there and make lots of money and are able to get anything and everything you want. Here's a little warning before hand. Don't let material possessions take control of your life where you can't see what is really important. You do not own possessions, possessions own you! It isn't until we lose everything, that we are free to do anything. I suppose this is the real reason I wrote this to all of you. Everyone needs to stop worrying what people think of you. Why does it matter? When we worry what others think, we often become so depressed that we forget why we became that way. I think that the root of all unhappiness comes from trying to keep others happy. A mothers unhappiness usually comes from trying to keep her children happy. People seem to not realize that if they just keep themselves happy, the people around them will also be happy. I'm not saying to become selfish and conceited, but just be content with yourself. Focus on what makes you different and observe what is different about others. In closing, I could keep typing but I'm not, treat everyone with respect. You never know it, but you may have to work for the people you picked on one day. Put aside your huge egos or painful grudges and just make peace these last days of school. Look around you and take in every minute. You'll miss it later. I hope you read all of this and it makes you think a little. I love all of you guys. Call on me when times are tough. I'll never be more than a phone call away. Brad Wright c/o 2001 |
| Brad Wright on Graduating. |
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