For those of you who don’t know, I have been attending Franklin Academy for three years, watching students come and go, most showing considerable growth.  When many students first come to Franklin, including myself, they have hit rock bottom, they are afraid, and looking out for themselves so they don’t get hurt again.  Like our phoenix mascot, however, I have watched more students than I can count rise out of the ashes of their former selves and be transformed into beautiful people.  None, however, have shown more growth as students, as friends, and most importantly as human beings than the class of 2008.  I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these fine ladies and gentlemen in front of me for some time and I consider myself privileged to know them. 

The one quality that I would say they possess most of all is compassion.  This year, Franklin Academy has had (with the leadership of level 3 and its seniors) a Day of Silence, a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity, and earlier this quint, a blood drive with the Red Cross.  Our students have showed their love for people who are less fortunate than they, demonstrating that they are grateful for what they have by giving to those who do not.  I witnessed yesterday the biggest demonstration of this compassion I have ever seen at Franklin.  After we had our rehearsal for graduation, the seniors sat down to figure out what we would do with the $300 we had for a senior gift.  The first suggestion out of anyone’s mouth was that we give it to International Justice Mission, an antislavery charity that I had been asking for donations from the Franklin Community.  I immediately thought the idea would be shot down, as this was not a traditional senior gift, but I was pleasantly surprised to find many of my classmates joining in agreeing that we should help those less fortunate.  Within a couple minutes the class had come to an agreement that we would donate all of the money we had.  This touched me because it was not only a perfect example of the big hearts that my fellow seniors had developed, but also a demonstration of the incredible teamwork that had grown as we had gotten to know each other.  The class of 2008 has grown in leaps and bounds from the socially awkward children we were into the men and women of real significance who you see before you today.  The vast majority of this group even took on positions of leadership and extra responsibility this year in order to make Franklin Academy a better place.

Felix Adler, an ethics scholar and social reformer once said:  “To care for anyone else enough to make their problems one's own, is ever the beginning of one's real ethical development.”

Seniors, I have never known a better group of people.  Over the past few years you have impressed me with your incredible growth in all areas, and I am proud to call you my friends.  I will leave you with one request, that you don’t let your growth stop here.  Whether or not you are coming back to Franklin, never stop growing, evolving, because I know that you are capable of great things.  You all have incredible potential and I encourage you not to waste it, but to use it to help those around you because I know that if you try, you can change the world.  I can only hope that when you do I am there to see it.

I would like to thank all of the teachers of Franklin but particularly Dave Cassenti and Alicia Gram for teaching me to love math and science as much as they do.  I would like to thank Krishna for his great lessons both in his class and when I worked with him as a Residential Assistant.  I would like to thank William and Elise for being patient and sharing their wisdom even when I didn’t want to listen.  I would like to thank my mother and the rest of my family for supporting me in my endeavors.  But most importantly, I would like to thank the seniors for showing me that even if good people are hard to find, that they are still out there ready to lend a hand.  It has been a privilege knowing you all.  Thank you and farewell.