***Graduation speech delivered May 2010 at the Escuela American in San Salvador, El Salvador***
Good morning everyone. I entered Escuela Americana in the 8th grade. I had never left my home state of South Carolina, let alone traveled to a foreign country before. On my first day of school, I walked down to the eight grade building from the complejo. I was embarrassingly early; as such, there were not many students in the hallway. As I tried desperately not to look like I had no idea where I was, I saw another girl at the other end of the row of lockers. And that is when I realized (PAUSE): I was wearing my uniform skirt backwards. I thought the zipper went in the front. (Pause) I didn’t know where the girl’s bathroom was, so I had to duck into a doorway to turn my skirt around. Later some kind classmates showed me how to roll up the sleeves on my shirt and pull my shirt out a bit in case I had forgotten my belt. Now I was “cool.” But I knew in my heart I was still “backwards skirt girl,” a little lost and a long way from where I belonged. However, I slowly learned to adapt – and El Salvador became my new beloved home. Podría hablar de sus hermosos lagos, sus volcanes majestuosos, o sus mares azules. Pero lo mas me impactó de El Salvador en los cinco años que he vivido aquí fue su gente. Los salvadoreños son generosos, trabajadores, y sobre todo dispuestos a disfrutar cada momento que se les da la vida. El Salvador y su gente me adoptaron cuando solo era otra gringa que no sabía que era una bicha ni porque me decían así. Tuve mucho que aprender. Aprendí que no se come una pupusa con una cuchara, que “Fulano de Tal” no es una persona real, y que todo es mejor con limón y sal. Les agradezco a todos que me enseñaron a amar este paisito y todo lo que representa. El Salvador, te llevo conmigo en el corazón. Just as I was welcomed by El Salvador and its people, I was also welcomed with open arms into the warm and friendly EA community. I think we, the Class of 2010, will miss EA more than we can ever imagine at this moment. We have all been so privileged to attend a school that embraces the idea of community and always looks out for its students. Now I don't think we'll miss everything (PAUSE) - not the middle schoolers who yell and scream while we are taking a test, not the Completo fruity punch, probably not the uniforms… But I think we will miss the afternoon rain storms that cooled off our hottest classrooms. I know I'll miss hanging out in the library when Ms. Shari turned on the air conditioning. Maybe you'll miss eating mangoes during PE class when you were supposed to be running laps, or going to visit the school nurse because her water tasted better than the water fountains, or wearing Class of 2010 t-shirts and jeans on Fridays. Maybe you'll miss the churro sales at break time, or hanging out in the reading plaza, or Charlie’s faithful ice cream cart. EA is special place for its students for all of these reasons. Though these moments are simple, they are what I think we will all miss the most. The EA Class of 2010 is many things – we are loud, opinionated, interesting, and ready to laugh. But I think the word that describes us best is diverse. Though many members of our class started at EA in pre-kinder, it doesn’t mean that we think and act alike. Just look at the list of colleges we are attending and you can see that we are all off in different directions to study different things. Even though we are diverse, and even though we attend one of the most exclusive schools in Central America, I think we are an inclusive group. Just ask the two seniors who joined EA this year. I shared your doubts and fears over being the new kid, but like you I quickly felt welcomed into this group. If you took American Literature in 11th grade, you might have had my mother as your teacher. If so, then she showed you one of my all-time favorite films, It’s a Wonderful Life. Like a young George Bailey, I think we all have dreams of building things. We might not want to build his “bridges a mile long” – instead we want to build companies and concerts and computers. I hope none of us ever have to face the incredible disappointments that made George so disenchanted with his own life. But at the end of the film, when the town has all rallied to help out their friend, George reads the message that the angel Clarence has sent him: “Remember George, no man is a failure who has friends.” This is our message too. We are all successful today because we graduated from high school – yea us. But we are even more successful because we are loved by all our friends. To Mom, Dad, Will thank you for all your love and support. To my “adopted sisters” Ceci and Rosanna, you are my family no matter where I go. Para, Mila, mi segunda mama, le debo tanto y la quiero muchísimo. To Nana and Uncle Danny, thank you for coming so far to be here for me today. To my complejo family, my incredible teachers and coaches, and the kind and helpful EA staff – thank you for making me feel like this is where I belonged. And to my classmates, the class of 2010, Always remember that you have friends.
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