Letting Our VOices sing Out

BY SCHOLAR OF SCHOLARS KENT LAU

GOOD EVENING, CLASS OF 2023, as well as administration, parents, teachers, and Trustee Parham.

This is it. Gathered here today is the last class of San Juan Hills High School who knew what this school was like before the pandemic.

And what an adventure the last four years have been. From winning CIF football to taking the AP Euro test online at home to getting roasted by the underclassmen at the Clash of the Classes, it has been a wild ride.

For the last four years, I have had the pleasure to sing with this talented group next to me in the choral program.

What I find so fascinating about vocal performance is that you are your instrument—each person’s voice has its own style and timbre. This extends into who we are as people: each of us from different backgrounds with our own strengths and shortcomings.

Yet, all of us come together, each with our own quirks, our own beliefs, our own unique voices, and form this rich tapestry of harmony—all of us together stronger than if we were one voice.

We bring to life the stories trapped in the sheet music through the union of our different experiences.

Class of 2023, we are the same. Throughout our four years here, we have grown: intel- lectually, physically, emotionally, mentally. But just as important are the relationships that you all have built with each other here.

Whether it’s the (and I might be somewhat biased here but the) emotional release of our music programs, the storytelling of our fantastic theater department, the overcoming of limits and failures of our athletic teams, or the educational instruction and immersive projects from countless other classes, each of you has contributed to this beautiful harmony here at San Juan Hills.