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With as much time as I’ve had to prepare for this moment I always thought it was further away. Then when I only had 12 days until the deadline I sat down to write this speech and I was speechless. I know some, like my brothers, probably find that hard to believe. For most of us, preparation for this night began in pre-k and kindergarten when we were Mrs. Schneider’s spiders, lucenay’s ladybugs, douglas’ dalmatians, stevens starfish, wolfs wolf pack, and rose’s raccoons. It’s strange to think that the people we’ve grown up with will someday just be “someone we used to know.” It seems like not long ago we were working our first jobs at trades day. We proudly traded in our plastic coins for some nachos, snow cones, hair color, a mani/pedi, a movie, and whatever else our little hearts desired (or could afford). If only times were still that simple and we didn’t have to face the reality of money making and spending. I for one still have a problem with spending outside of my means, sorry mom and dad. Tonight, we have a lot to be thankful for. We have a class of 106 graduating, all of whom have worked hard to get here. I know some of you faced battles behind the scenes that made this harder on you than you let on but we see you, acknowledge you, and are all the more proud of you. I hope you are too. Two years ago graduation looked much different, but here we are within inches of each other, no masks, and a full school year behind us. Also in our rearview mirror are all the trips we’ve taken, the memories made, and lessons learned. I think we’ve all found ourselves reminiscing on the past more and more as this day has been approaching. Times were so much simpler when we were all cowboying at the Sadler Baize Ranch. Maybe that’s where Carley found her calling for rodeo and the rest of us decided rodeos are more fun to watch from the stands. Some things we may prefer to forget but can’t. Like the pacer test. We looked forward to PE every day, because besides lunch and recess, what’s the point of being in school right? So imagine our disappointment when we saw pacer written in all caps on the board. I think the only ones who really enjoyed those days were Tyson and Zane. Soon though, we went from looking forward to dodgeball on Fridays to football. In the blink of an eye we were freshmen awaiting our four-year sentence. We didn’t know what to expect, but here’s kind of the rundown. That year, we had no responsibilities. I remember walking under the goat on the first day, all of us getting our colorful schedules, and taking a tour through the halls. The same halls that just a couple weeks ago we were filling with balloons and desks and trash cans for our senior prank. We had the opportunity to take biology with coach Sloan who introduced us to his life lessons that we have carried with us since, and will continue to do so. We just couldn’t wait until we were seniors and could sit in the infamous chair. They say time flies when you’re having fun and that was definitely the case for my freshman year. Sophomore year, we walked a little taller. We were still underclassmen, but at least we weren’t freshmen anymore. This was the year everything changed. We gained Dr. Bomar then COVID hit the second semester and we got the longest spring break ever. Converting to online learning was a struggle and we missed the face to face interactions we were used to having every day. If we learned anything that year, I hope it is to not take the time we spend with each other for granted and to make every second count. Junior year rolled around and we were excited to get back to some normalcy. Well, somewhat normal because we all had to wear masks and some of us were still online. Despite this, we were able to be around each other again and sports and clubs were able to resume. We may have missed a lot the previous year, but we were determined to make up for it because we knew we only had one more left after that. And then came senior year. It’s such a bittersweet feeling knowing that everything was a “last first”. Last first day of school, last first practice, last first pep rally, last first game. We were finally back in Coach Sloan’s this time as anatomy students, which meant we could sit in THE chair and make sure all underclassmen knew it was off limits to them. We learned each of the life lessons again, this time 4 years older with a new perspective. Thank you Coach Sloan for choosing our class to retire with and don’t forget to wear sunscreen when you’re out enjoying all of your free time. Before we knew it all of our lasts were taking place. Our last homecoming, last semester exams, last games, our last walks through the halls with our pink passes, and just yesterday our last day of high school. We won’t be remembered for money or popularity but by the relationships we built along the way. The legacy we will leave behind is carried on through the people we crossed paths with, made memories with, resonated with and personally impacted. We walked into this stadium together as wide eyed seniors ready for our hard earned diplomas. Soon we’ll walk off this field as GHS alum and begin our separate journeys towards Texas A&M, Sam Houston, Navarro, TSTC, TCU, Pepperdine, Texas State, UT Austin, UT Tyler, UNT, Prairie View A&M, the military, cosmetology school, or straight into the workforce. Thank you to all of our teachers, administrators, all the faculty and staff we have encountered all along the way. Thank you to our families who not only got us to school but through it. No doubt, we are prepared to be successful in our future endeavors. If we can survive our senior trip to six flags we can survive anything. Wherever we go from here I’m sure we will continue our legacy and do big things and as Dr. Bomar has ingrained in our minds from every morning announcement “In a world where you can be anything, always be kind.” and might I add always be a goat.