2024 Valedictorian Address
Elea the leader. Gabe the writer. Estha the singer. Cate the dancer. We’ve all got our archetypes. Our “*insert your name* the noun.” From the moment we could reasonably be regarded as sentient (a qualification that can be made earlier for some than others), we are put in boxes. Perhaps by ourselves, perhaps by others. But at some point, we all begin to outgrow these. I remember the first time I felt like I was outgrowing my box was in middle school. I had a certain reputation as a student and as a classmate that, while still valuable to me, did not feel like the whole picture. It was only after I tried stepping out of my box, something that did not truly happen till this past year or two, that I realized how welcoming my Ridgeview community could be to who Sophie really was. Senior year only further confirmed this for me.
Every year in August, a batch of 20-something students enters Ridgeview Classical Schools as seniors. And every year in May, just 9 months of school later, (hopefully) those same students will walk off this stage as graduates. There is a lot that comes in between though. We have death-defying class trips and papers we swear we’ll never survive and the karaoke-filled senior ditch day and… Somewhere in the midst of all of the tests and papers, in the midst of all the events and extracurriculars, we become more than just a jumbled assortment of students; we become the Senior Class. We all take the risk of stepping out of our boxes and start actually seeing each other. With this comes a determination to not waste a single precious second of our limited time together pretending to be anything but ourselves.
Over the course of this year, I truly believe we have done our utmost to follow through on this determination. We have laughed together (mostly out of hysteria), we have cried together (mostly in Mr. Herndon’s history class), we have experienced beautiful things together (only *sometimes* to the point of weeping uncontrollably next to icy blue lakes), and, most importantly, we have loved love together.
When I came to this school 13 years ago, I was completely unaware of the impact it would have on my life. I was raised by these people. I credit a lot of who I am to the challenges I have faced, the friends I have made, and the knowledge I have gained here. And I think I could say the same for the rest of my class. And though I know I will walk off this stage to inevitably be forgotten, just a name on a growing list of past valedictorians, I will never forget what it meant to be part of this. We have come to see each other in a way I do not believe we could have anywhere else. And I truly believe that, no matter what happens in our lives as we step forward into our futures, we can remain steady in our determination to break out of our boxes. I hope that you all will do the same. Thank you.
