Graduation

Super tired, and it's late, so I'll skip the long sentimental post, and put in this post a poem I wrote and delivered at the graduation today. Thank you to everyone for their support:

Everyone grows up, 

everyone kisses childhood goodbye,

everyone goes through changes,

creating morals to abide by.

We all fight internal and external battles,

trying to discover what kind of people we want to be,

Sometimes we want to be what we’re not,

something which never ends wonderfully.

But you see,

I’m not everyone.

I’m not the cool one, or the popular one, the sophisticated or the rich,

not the geeky, or the preppy, or performer, the athlete.

I have a nationality, a cultural identity,

but I don’t let this define me,

I can’t let it define me,

because in the end I’m just me.

I’m just me,

just me?

you may ask

what does ‘me’ mean,

All I know in this moment is that I wasn’t born the way I am now

I was born an unaltered, untouched individual,

a blank slate on which the universe could draw upon,

and draw upon it did.

We all grow up,

and with growth, our ego increases,

and so we begin to give ourselves too much credit for how each of us has turned out,

but oh how much more misinformed could we be?

We disregard the ones who gave life to us,

family members that are just taken for granted.

We look past the ones who show us what this beautiful world has to offer,

teachers whose efforts we have never completely appreciated,

we make and break friendships with a snap,

not knowing that each and every friend we have ever has impacted us in some way.

This isn’t about who I am,

or who I am trying to be.

This is about gratitude and appreciation for the ones who have helped me make it this far,

you have to know how much you mean to me.

So here’s to the parents who overprotect us, but only out of the immense love in their hearts,

here’s to the teachers who invest long hours of teaching content to us, but undeniably teach us how to be better human beings,

and here’s to each and every single friend,

because no matter where we are today, you have had an impact on me.

So thank you to all of you,

you have not only touched our hearts,

but you inspire us,

to be better versions of ourselves.