Valedictorian Address

Friends and family, on behalf of the Class of 2022, I would like to thank you all for being here to support and encourage us on one of the most important days of our lives. FPD faculty and staff, thank you for pouring wisdom, knowledge, and truth into us for the last four years. We would not be here today without each of you.

The Class of 2022 is nothing short of special. It is only fitting that we get to say we have survived high school during some of history’s strangest and most unpredictable years. Though we have lost a great deal throughout high school—such as two years of normalcy do to a pandemic and even our senior spirit week,—it does not compare to what we have gained. We have gained knowledge, experience, wisdom, lifelong relationships, and so much more. FPD’s stated mission is “to educate and equip students to change the world for God’s glory,” and while each of our individual experiences were different, I would say they have done a pretty good job.

At FPD, we have been educated. Our teachers have challenged us in the classroom and prepared us for the rigorous courses we will take in college. But it wasn’t just meaningless facts and insignificant stories that were imbedded in our minds. It was our history teachers teaching us how to see God’s glory intertwined throughout history. It was our English teachers showing us how to use our writing to call out injustices in the world and spread truth. It was our math, science, art, and Bible teachers leading us in learning how to use our gifts, talents, and abilities to think in our own ways and perspectives. It isn’t the content we were taught that matters. It is the ways we were taught to think individually, to make our own decisions, and to find our own ways to glorify God that will carry on with us after we walk across this stage today.

At FPD, we have been equipped. We have had the opportunity to join numerous clubs and groups that have given us unique skills and abilities that we may use in whatever the future brings for us. Some of the best opportunities FPD gave us existed in those for community service.

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Somewhere along the way, we must learn that there is nothing greater than to do something for others.” FPD followed Dr. King’s example by giving us the chance to be involved with both local and international organizations and learn how to use our gifts and privileges for good. Whether it was with Campus Clubs, Freedom 424, United in Pink, or something else, we learned how to put others before ourselves and the immeasurable value of being selfless. If there is one thing we all take away from our time at FPD, I hope it is that.

I would now like to take a second to acknowledge that FPD is not the only source that has educated and equipped us the past four years. Family. Many of us, including myself, have been fortunate enough to grow up in a loving home in which we found comfort, peace, and encouragement. With parents who never fail in supporting you and standing by your side. With brothers who, although loud, remind you of the good in the world and inspire you to be the best version of yourself. And with sisters, whose unconditional love and laughter reminds you that you are never alone. For them, I am forever grateful.

However, there are also many of us who did not have that foundation. Whose home was not a place of comfort or peace, and maybe even the very opposite. Each of us has a different, unique story to tell, but the one thing we have in common is this: we are loved. We are loved by every single faculty member sitting in this auditorium today. We are loved by a God whose truths were imbedded into us by those same faculty members, and we are loved by those around us—the lifelong, irreplaceable friends we each found in the Class of 2022.

High school wasn’t always easy. For a lot of us, a lot of times, it was a struggle. A struggle to keep up with our work, to get our grades up, or sometimes even showing up to class. But we had the comfort of those around us. Our friends who were there for us through it all. Be sure to thank them, too. I, for one, truly could not have made it without them.

As I close, to reiterate, FPD’s mission statement is “to educate and equip students to change the world for God’s glory.” They have done the first part. They have educated us in the classroom and equipped us with experience, knowledge, and truth. The rest is up to us.

How will you choose to use the knowledge and talents you’ve been taught to change the world? How will you glorify God by doing so? It will look different for us all, but I can tell you that in order to do so, we will have to leave the comfortable bubble that is FPD. Because glorifying God doesn’t just happen when you surround yourself with people just like you; people with the same opinions, views, and statuses. It happens when you venture out and meet people who don’t agree with you. Whose lives are vastly different from yours. Who may not even believe God exists. The world is changing. The places and people we are about to be exposed to are only growing more different than FPD each day. He wasn’t able to make it today, but my 99-year-old great grandfather, a WWII marine fighter pilot, has lived through more than most of us can imagine. Yet, I can assure you he would agree with me that no matter how much the world changes, your values can remain constant and you can make a difference, even if it doesn’t seem like it. It might be scary, but we are prepared.

Class of 2022, remember what Coach A always reminds us, “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing,” and don’t ever forget that you are equipped and prepared to change the world.