GRADUATION SPEAKER: AMINA BAJRAMOVIC

Dear fellow graduates, teachers, guests, and families, as I stand here in front of you all tonight, surrounded by the people I have spent 13 years of my life with, I feel a sense of accomplishment and pride. We have worked hard for the past four years, and we have finally reached this significant milestone — our high school graduation.

These moments are not just for and about us however. It is about the people who have supported and helped us along the way — our teachers, families, and friends. Without their unwavering support, none of us would be here today. I would like to take a moment and thank each and every one of them for their endless support, love, guidance, and encouragement. Thank you for putting up with us and believing in us when we would not.

As we stand here on the brink of a new chapter in our lives, I want to share with you some thoughts I have had throughout the last couple of weeks of my grade school career. We grew up.

That is all we have ever been waiting for. We grew up laughing alongside each other and sharing inside jokes within the school’s four brick walls since 2010. We craved to be taller, older, smarter, stronger; old enough to get our licenses and drive on our own with our closest friends while singing along to the same couple of songs. The cupcakes and Sky Zone invitations we would pass out to our classmates soon turned into texts saying “come pick me up” and inviting them to parties. We have always wanted to grow up.

We went through each grade impatiently waiting for each class’s bell to ring at the end of each hour and singing “Schools Out for Summer” at the end of every school year. The Junie B. Jones and Harry Potter books soon transitioned into The Great Gatsby and The Odyssey. Now, we are here starting a new page of our second chapter and wrapping up the first.

We grew up going to sleep at 2 a.m. after studying for the big biology exam we had the next day. We went through hundreds of note cards and loose leaf sheets of papers covered in vocabulary words and definitions hoping that they would somehow be engraved in our brains for the next school day. We grew up with blowing eraser shreds off our desks and stressing out after filling in the “A” bubble on a scantron five times in a row.

We grew up learning information and gaining intelligence from the teachers we have had for 13 years. They wanted us to be our best selves. We watched our favorite teachers retire, complaining and saying “Already?” Not realizing that they were also getting older and not just us. I’ll never forget my two band directors, Mr. Martini and Mr. Elford, who amusingly taught us not only how to play instruments, but gave me advice that I will hold on to for the rest of my life.

We grew up with everything at our fingertips. We had the power to change everything in the world as we touched it. From chromebooks warning you that you only have five minutes left of battery, to writing in math answers on the teachers boards, we had technology alongside us. We have seen numerous changes in fashion and social media, not realizing that we were changing right alongside it.

We grew up complaining about tests that would influence our future careers. From taking the MAP test in elementary and middle school, to the ACT and EOCs in high school, we complained about the things that would have the biggest impact on us.

As the senioritis started to kick in, we slowly started realizing how fast we have grown up. We crammed in late work and assignments, emailing teachers to extend deadlines in hopes of ending the class with a good grade. Somehow 13 years have already flown by. Years of waiting for a paper and handshake turned into months, and those months slowly turned into days and then hours. Those hours have now come to an end, but the growing up we did was beautiful.

We grew up dreaming and waiting for this day and the start of our new adventure. The jokes about not being able to wait for graduation faded as we started getting closer and reality started to hit us. We got accepted into colleges and applied for scholarships hoping to make our parents and guardians proud. This moment is the first step we take into our varying passages.

We grew up overcoming difficulties, adjusting to them through trial and error. There have been all sorts of ups and downs, from experiencing and battling through COVID-19 and personal troubles, everyone has had their fair share of difficulties. (I am still sorry for getting most of the grade quarantined by the way) but we still made it to this special day and I am proud of each and every one of us.

We grew up making memories together that we will hold on for a lifetime. We laughed together until way past our childhood bedtimes, cheered along the student sections at every game, and played our very best at all competitions and games. We came together at Mock Olympics, cheering on freshmen as they dominated some events and scolding the juniors as they slowly started catching up to us. We made friendships with people we never thought we would and got close with teachers that all the upperclassmen always complained about.

Even though it is all we ever wanted to do, we grew up through tears and sweat, dreams and disappointments, successes and failures, laughter and unhappiness, we are thankful for every moment we went through to bring us here.

I leave you here with a quote from Andy Bernard in The Office, “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the ‘good old days,’ before you’ve actually left them.”

Congratulations Bayless High School class of 2023. We finally grew up.

Decorating