Graduation Speech 2006

         Success is something that everyone wants, but no one knows exactly what it is. Some

believe it to be how many friends they have, how nice their car is or even being able to stay

awake through graduation. I believe it is something different. I believe that success is

determined by what a person does with the gifts and opportunities with which they were

 blessed. Our times at AMS have given us both those gifts and the opportunity.

        We have been fortunate enough to have several wonderful influences  that shape us into

 the people we are today. First of all, we should show our undying gratitude to our parents .

They tolerated everything that we were able to put them through and they are here about to

 cry because we are graduating!

        Also, we need to thank the teachers. They have influenced us more than we can ever

know .Every day, several of them go to their jobs with enthusiasm to teach loud, obnoxious

and thankless students just to end up inspiring them.

        And who can forget the friendships we’ve made along the way? Some   will last a lifetime ,

and some will last no longer than tomorrow , but either way , it’s okay because we will forever

 be impacted by it .As a class , we’ve laughed together , cried together , skipped classes,

 failed tests, aced tests we forgot we were taking and now, we’re graduating together .Whatever

 the event , we did it as a whole .

       Class of 2006, as you move on in life and accomplish your goals, I challenge you to

help others do the same. Making a difference in someone’s life doesn’t always require

 money, manual labor or even a huge effort. In the words of Jonathan swift,“ you can’t change

 the direction of the wind but you can adjust the sail.” I believe that we can all adjust the sails

 of someone else by doing as little as giving them a compliment or lending them a hand when

 they have fallen .

        We must learn from our mistakes and apply what we’ve learned. There are an infinite

amount of opportunities in life, and our lives have just begun. We’ve had some great times at

 AMS, but let’s not let them be the best times of our lives.

        Congratulations, good luck and thank you.

        Farah Hourani 

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