Hello everyone! I am honoured to represent the graduates as Lake City Secondary’s valedictorian of 2024. My name is Kalli Campbell and like many of you, I was born and raised here in Williams Lake. For eighteen years I have had the privilege to call the traditional territory of the Secwepemc First Nation home. This land where we all have the benefit to learn, grow, and play will always welcome us back no matter how far we may explore. Thank you all for being here tonight to support our graduating class.
Well grads, in case it hasn’t sunk in yet, we literally just graduated high school. It seems like only yesterday we were putting on our Velcro inside shoes and now we have finally strapped on our grad heels and tied up our dress shoes to enjoy our big moment. This weekend is all about celebrating us!
At just five years old, we entered kindergarten, lunch bags packed with the best snacks in one hand, and if you were like me, you were carrying an enormous cricket and grasshopper trapped in a bug cage in the other hand. Yes, that is a true story. And so began our scholastic adventure. Those were the good old days, playing at recess, not a worry in the world, other than the big kids not letting us play grounders with them. Fast forward six years and we became the big kids. Playing man-tracker and truth-or-dare at lunchtime with our friends thinking we ruled the school because we were the oldest.
The first day of middle school came along, and there we were, nervously packed in the bleachers awaiting our names to be called one by one, much like today. Only we weren’t receiving diplomas, scholarships, and recognition. Instead, we were handed those ugly, sweat-wicking, color coordinated Lake City Falcons T-shirts. Who agrees the school owes an apology to poor Mr. Morgan and Ms. McCoubrey’s Outdoor Ed class for the neon puke colored shirt? If that wasn’t bad enough, we were crammed into a dungeon hallway in the basement. At least we had each other. Finding our way through our awkward stages of life thanks to that dreadful time called puberty; we survived braces, pimples, and body odour that most of you boys tried to hide with Axe Body Spray, although let’s be real, that smelled even worse. Middle school was a time for experimenting with new educational explorations, relationships, and friendships. For some of us, these friendships were the building blocks of our high school experiences.
Several of our greatest milestones have taken place while we have been enrolled at LCSS. At sixteen, many of us took the written driver’s test and got our L’s. Can you believe they allowed some of us to be alone behind the wheel only a short year later? Even if it took a couple of tries, we eventually mastered those darn three point turns and reverse stall park jobs. Many of us had to get our first jobs, so we could make grown-up purchases with our paychecks like vehicles, name-brand clothing, the newest Nike sneakers, Xboxes and finally upgrading to the latest edition cellphone that wasn’t a hand-me-down from mom or dad; our first glimpse of adulting. Many pictures were taken on our fancy new cellphones creating everlasting digital memories to forever capture this moment in time. This newfound independence and freedom slowly preparing us to start the next chapters of our lives.
In less than a month we will be closing the book filled with pages written about this special and important journey of our childhood which will become the foundation of our futures. Penciled in memories of field trips to scout island, Gavin Lake, or all over the province for school sports. If there is one thing the class of 2024 should be remembered for, it is our athletic abilities. All that intense training for the elementary school district track meets (which some of us treated much like the Olympics) really paid off in the future for all our multisport athletes. LCSS is proud to say that they have taught many artists, singers, musicians, actresses, athletes, firefighters, indigenous role models, and many (as Mr. Duff might say) academic weapons, who are high achieving in all aspects. I wish I could personally name you all, because you deserve it, however I’m sure your parents are dying to get out of those uncomfortable seats.
Our grade 12 year was filled with so many fun events like the winter formal, open mics, the epic grad nerf battle, and fun in the snow (minus the snow), all thanks to our leadership and grad council. We also can’t forget about the events outside of school like the grad water gun fight, grad-napping and scavenger hunt. These events sure helped in making our senior year a memorable one. And there is still more fun to come this weekend! Shoutout to the dry grad committee for all their hard work and the local businesses who have generously donated!
It is safe to say in fifteen years or so we probably won’t remember those tests we failed, the amount of homework Gobs and Smith assigned, the books we read for Fahoum’s lit circles, or how to verify trigonometric identities. When we think back to our time in high school, we will remember the silly little things, like how Mr. Wilson used to make us wear those zebra print pants when we forgot our gym strip, that one time Nakota brought her baby snake in a fanny pack to school, when Gurtaj was voted fastest runner for the yearbook in grade nine, how Chupa always made us yummy fudge on test days, the iconic white-tee before school picture day, and how Nash Overton finally got a girlfriend. There are endless great memories from our time spent together.
We could not have made it through these thirteen years without the support of our families, friends, teachers and coaches. We all stand here successfully because of you. On behalf of all the grads, I would like to personally say thank you to all our families. Parents and guardians don’t just play the part of caregiver, they have many other responsibilities. They are our bodyguards, story tellers, chauffeurs, house cleaners, driving instructors, mechanics, hair stylists, bankers, but most importantly, our role models. Grads let’s give our greatest cheerleaders, a well-deserved round of applause! (clapping). You held our hands when we took our first steps, and in a couple of months (that will go by faster than you want it to), we know that you will hold our hands once again as we head off to college, university, careers, adventures, or wherever the future takes us.
I would like to wrap up my speech today with a quote from the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” If any of the grads have not watched this movie, please do while you still have the chance to skip class. I am sure all of us can relate to this quote as we have experienced first-hand how time can really disappear on you. Life is fleeting and the only moment we are guaranteed is now. So, enjoy it. Be present and soak it all in, because it changes in the blink of an eye. Like our shoes, we have all changed and grown through our experiences in school. We have made lifelong friends, learned from our mistakes, found this version of ourselves, and had the most fun along the way. As we begin this new and exciting journey, I encourage all the grads to be who you want to be, live in the moment, take risks, and keep making mistakes because the learning doesn’t stop here.
Thank you!
