Salutatorian address

If any of you know my dad he’s a jokester. If my dad was up at this podium it would be joke time, but I don’t know if any of the jokes he tells should be told over the microphone, so I’m just going to skip over that. Okay...

I hand you a timer with 1,387 days on it. Your clock starts counting down the moment you walk through those doors. Four years ago my timer started when I walked off the bus into the doors here at Gilman High School. I remember my first day of freshman year like it was yesterday. I was nervous, excited, and anxious. I can remember wanting all of the fun the seniors got every year. Messing around and overall being role models, that someday we would be.

My freshman and sophomore years were as normal and slow as they could get. And it finally got to be our junior year. We were finally going to be upperclassmen, the ones we always wished we could be. It was going to be the best school year yet. We had sports, prom, and it was our last year with the seniors. During our junior year however; a day that we will never forget came around and ended up robbing us of our entire junior year, March 13th.

When coming back after spring break turned into coming back after summer.

Coming back as a senior up here, I can say enjoy it. You are told those 1,387 days are going to be the best days of your life. Yes they may be rough for some, but most don’t take the time to try and enjoy them. Make the most of these four years, and remember your timer started the moment you walked through those doors. Make plans with friends, your teachers care, talk to them, and thank them. I really should’ve listened to people when they said High School flies by. I didn’t think to listen or believe that my freshman, sophomore, and junior years of high school. Not even 5 months ago. When we put the 30 day countdown up on the wall is when it truly hit me, and I’m sure most of us seniors that high school is over, it’s gone. You order your graduation invites, get little pictures printed off for the younger classmen, hang up your senior sports banner, and put together the senior video. All of those little things that we had to do our last few months here at Gilman High made me realize all of the amazing memories, experiences, and people that I have gained, growing up here with all of you. Many of us have known each other since kindergarten, and I consider some of you to be family. As much as you may wish high school away at times. As it got closer and closer to graduation, and standing up here today I can say don’t wish it away. Because once it’s gone it’s gone. I know I will never forget all of the memories or lose the relationships I have created here at Gilman. But it’s hard knowing this is where our childhood ends. They say, you don’t know what you got until it’s gone. No more Friday night lights, pep assemblies, bus rides, cheer sections, or late night track meets. You’ll never get back junior prom or your senior homecoming. It felt like those four years went by in a blink of an eye, so don’t miss out on these high school experiences. Because you’ll remember those unforgettable moments forever if you take them. As we are ending this chapter of our lives we are on to the next journey. We have some teachers, future business women, meteorologists, lineman, heavy equipment operators, and future healthcare workers in this gym, and I know for a fact that we are all going to do amazing things in the future no matter what direction we go in. I was watching Legally Blonde the other night with a friend, and Elle Woods was also giving a speech in the movie, and she said “It is with passion, courage, and a strong sense of self that we take our next steps into the world, remembering that first impressions are not always correct. You must always have faith in people. And most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself.” Tonight we get to be proud of ourselves and how far we have come together. We also get to thank our supporters, who are our parents, grandparents, coaches, teachers, and faculty who have raised us and gotten us to this point in our lives, and now they get to send us off as we take our next steps into the world, whether that’s a technical college, a four year University, or the workforce. So don’t forget to give them an extra big hug tonight for their love, support, and encouragement that they have embraced the past four years. I want to give out some special thank you’s tonight to some pretty special people in my life for what they have done for me throughout high school. I thank my grandparents tonight because they have taught me that if I have faith, I can get through anything. And that love has no limit. I thank my parents for giving my sisters and I the world. They bust their butts every day for us, and have taught us what hard work can bring. You guys have been our biggest motivators and supporters, and have taught us to always be strong, humble, and kind, and to never forget where we came from. I thank you for all of the things you have done and do for me, to the littlest of things, even if I don’t show it at times. You guys are the best parents a girl could ever ask for. I love you Mom and Dad.

Ellie, if there’s anything good that came out of Corona and quarantine, it’s that we have become each other’s best friends. I don’t know what I would do without your humor and sarcasm, and you always find a way to make me laugh even if I’m bleeding. You have been my rock throughout high school. I can’t do anything alone, so of course we do everything together from last minute runs to Walmart, hot gossip talks about our crazy weekends, satisfying our sushi cravings at Sakura, dressing up together for cheer sections, to gagging while taking out the trash together. I truly am going to miss all the things we usually did while we were in High school together.

Claire and Shae, you both are way too brave, and are always testing your limits. Including mine. You both are two determined, dedicated, and beautiful girls that are always willing to help out others. And I know a lot of people appreciate that about the two of you.

And lastly I thank my close friends, always being there for me, putting up with my weirdness, and going on crazy adventures with me. I texted a friend the other night saying how forgot to say goodbye, and she said “Friends don’t have to say goodbye that’s why they’re your friends.” It may be a short statement, but it’s one I will never forget.

Thank you, — Sophia Drier, Gilman High School salutatorian