I know it was over a year ago, but it really is ironic that I was actually happier at my brother's graduation than my own. And all because I was forced to wear a gown of complete, hideous yellow. (Yellow's my least favorite color; I hate it, and the yellow that my gown was... makes me wanna puke.) I felt hideous, and my mom made me keep it on for a few pictures. I didn't want any pictures done of me in that hideous thing. I just wanted to forget I ever wore it.

(My peer(bully)'s stupid and pathetic speech, which was chosen over my well-thought-out one that I put a lot of feeling into, made my graduation just a little bit worse. It really was bad; it didn't seem like she had put much thought in it at all, and it was very niche. Mine, on the other hand, was directed at my entire grade, and also applicable to everyone else. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever posted that, did I?

Here is the version I submitted:

Good afternoon, 2019 graduates, family, friends, and staff members. I am grateful and honored to be able to speak to you here today, and I hope my words inspire you all. I have a lot that I want to say to the people in my graduating class, but unfortunately, I can't express all of that. Instead, I wish to express a hope for the future.

This world has a lot of cycles of actions. More often than not, people continue the bad cycles rather than the positive ones. Some of us enter this world with a shield of some sort. Others enter with a sword. The shields of many often crumble in the training grounds, and most of them left defenseless pick up a sword.

A few of us, however, come out of the training grounds with a target on our backs and pain in our hearts, and we enter the "real" world like that. Defenseless and broken.

Every one of us makes a difference. Every one of us is affected by so many different things, and each one of us affects another. Collectively, we are powerful. Against the collective, we are powerless.

The ones with the swords are the collective. Those with earnest hearts, with a shield coming in and a painful target coming out, are the rebels.

That isn't how it should be.

You may never have gotten to know me, but if you listen to only one thing I say, listen to this:

Throw down your swords, and lift up your hands.

We shouldn't have swords; we shouldn't need shields. We shouldn't have targets on our backs, either.

We should be providing love, not insults or hate. We should help each other grow and improve.

Personally, I've grown a lot the past four years, and throughout my whole school career, and I hope the same is for the rest of you. I also hope that you yearn to grow even more, learn even more.

But one cannot learn or improve without the support of others.

Alone, we will crumble. I have witnessed that personally.

Together, however, we will thrive. I hope to experience that one day.

For that hope of a future, I hope you all will lift your hands with one another, and love unconditionally.