Class of 2005 Valedictorian Speech
Everyone here knows someone who most of the time acts goofy but for one brief moment, says something truly inspiring. Some say a few too many of my friends are like this. Take for example my sister Lauren.
Last summer, Lauren and I went to the Dominican Republic with our youth group. While doing service work there, we reflected upon our experiences. When it was Lauren’s turn to share with the group one night, she said, “Life is awful.” Silently, we agreed with her because we had seen the poverty of the local villages, but she spoke again. She said,
“Life is AW-ful because of the poverty but life is AWE-ful because of how nice and welcoming the children are and how grateful they are to us.” Needless to say, the rest of us were taken aback at the simple profoundness of this statement.
However, this statement does not only apply to the situation in the Dominican Republic; it applies here to our high school experience and beyond. We have experienced and will experience both AW-ful and AWE-filled moments in life. The pessimist in my heart reminds me of some of the AW-ful moments with the catastrophic events of September
11, the atrocities of the current war in Iraq, and the destruction of the tsunami in Asia.
There have been AW-ful moments here at Revere High School for each of us, moments of individual pain and trial. I cannot speak for all of us here and I cannot identify each of our own AW-ful moments but we have all had them--maybe a failed course, a bad fight with friends, a breakup, an illness, or even the death of a close family member. And as we continue to grow, we will experience more AW-ful moments, ones that may make these pains and trials seem insignificant.
The optimist in my soul reminds me of the many AWE-filled moments we have witnessed and shared. Remember our generous donations to the September 11 Fund, the toppling of a brutal dictator in Iraq, the Red Sox winning the World Series in our senior year (how perfect was that?!?) These moments have highlighted our years at
Revere High School. Again, individually, we have seen so many AWE-filled moments that have shaped our high school experience, that may have included closely identifying

with a teacher, making new friends over the years, finding love, and just enjoying the act of being young. We are only in our late teens and I know we will have many more AWEfilled moments to experience. These AWE-filled moments will create some of the happiest memories of our lives.
Graduating today is a dual experience. For all of us, this will be the last time we set foot in Revere High School as students and for most of us, the last time for a long time. No longer will we be running to lunch for the delicious food or meeting at the lockers to chat for a few minutes in the mornings. This is the AW-ful part. But the AWE-filled part is that this moment marks a success we have achieved and now we are moving on to greater challenges and opportunities. We have worked hard for four years and we have accomplished so much, probably much to our parents’ shock.
As we continue on in life, let us seek to find a balance between the AW-ful and the
AWE-filled moments in our lives. Let us remember that the AW-ful moments test our character and the AWE-filled moments rejuvenate our spirit.
Congratulations, Class of 2005, we did it! We are an awesome--no, wait, an
“OUTSTANDING” class and we are embarking on a new opportunity and we will “jump on it.” Felzani, out!