\u201cWe dreamed about changing the world, but over time, it became easy to be complacent, easy to limit ourselves,\u201d Ajani said. \u201cIt\u2019s not our fault though. It\u2019s the fault of society. We were taught to fear failure. We were told to dream big, but not too big. But what I\u2019m truly afraid of, and what you should be afraid of too, is waking up one day being 30 years old, 40 years old, 50, 60, being on my deathbed, and having the realization that I allowed my dream to be pushed away.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continued though to talk about how each and every one of the seniors have limited time in this life to make things happen.<\/p>\n
As a result, he reminded his peers to not listen to the doubters and to go be the king of the skies.<\/p>\n
\u201cForget what the chickens say,\u201d Ajani said. \u201cFind your dream, find your passion and chase it. Chase it with all your might. You\u2019ve only got one life, don\u2019t spend it being a chicken.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shivika Kumar, another valedictorian, discussed how her classmates will have to make their impact through a time of change that they all are set to endure.<\/p>\n
However, she emphasized that nobody was made to go through this world by themselves. Together, her peers can do anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you are an eight-mile drive away or you\u2019re going to be taking a 1,000-mile flight to get to college, you are facing big change,\u201d Kumar said. \u201cJust know, that change will lead to your growth and the realization that you are not alone, and I mean that mentally\u2026 I realized through the people that I met that you don\u2019t take on the world by yourself, and coming out on top isn\u2019t possible or even important without seeing the people around you, and recognizing the work that the people have done before you that give you that platform to use your voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kumar said though that the legacy her classmates leave on this world will not just stop when they are gone, but instead affect the future generations. <\/p>\n
That carryover is why the class of 2026 must not be afraid to shoot for the stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWork towards the legacy you will build even beyond your physical presence, and remember that the success that you gain must be shared,\u201d Kumar said. \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to take chances even if you\u2019ll be knocked down. But always leave it better than when you came.\u201d<\/p>\n
Esslinger finished things before the seniors received their diplomas by quoting the great German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.<\/p>\n
She tied him into say that being from Spain Park is setting the seniors up to accomplish great things in this world, and that all they have to do is reach for it.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019There are only two lasting requests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings,\u2019\u201d Esslinger said. \u201cYour roots are as a Spain Park Jag. Spread your wings and go and do the big, big things. Thank you for the last four years, and congratulations to each one of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Esslinger sent the class off with a big congratulations knowing it completed a big part of its story. However, she knows that the seniors played a monumental part in her story, as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe dreamed about changing the world, but over time, it became easy to be complacent, easy to limit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[543,15566,541,9902,17,540],"class_list":["post-31657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-280-reporter","tag-graduation","tag-hoover","tag-hoover-city-schools","tag-spain","tag-spain-park-high-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}