To Be Determined

This isn't exactly the most creative, but it's something I've written and I'm proud of it.

It's a graduation speech for high school, but it applies to more than just that. Here it is:

To Be Determined

We find ourselves today at the culmination of our hard work and dedication. Our high school career is over and we are thrust into the next step in our lives. The way we live will be forever changed as we begin the adult life we have prepared for since we entered this school.

Our lives, however, are our own, and we will make them what we will. We are the ones who will decide our future and how successful we want to be. We are the ones to determine what our lives will be.

Many people write of the paths, roads, or rivers that we follow in life, but are we really making the most out of our own lives following an ordered path? No, life is more than some meandering river, it is a forest that we must clear our way through to reach our goals. The forest does not allow anyone to simply stroll along. Instead, we must avoid the obstacles and break through the challenges in life. We must be determined to reach our goals and continue on our quest.

The choices that we make in life determine our goals. If we choose, we will become successful and accomplish the goals we set for ourselves. Even if we don’t know what we want five or ten years down the road, we know what we want now. A good choice now will lead to the future that is to be determined. A great choice now will set us on our journey through the great forest of life.

Today we depart from our high school lives forever and journey into the world that is to be determined. As our time here draws to a close, it is important to remember that this is only the next step into our adult lives. We move forward into adulthood with our memories behind us and ourselves in the present, but what can be said about the future? What will come in our lives ahead?

The answer lies in us. Our decisions will determine how our lives will be.