Good evening to the beautiful people of God’s Country— *ahem* Bryce Valley. To start I want to officially recognize that the probability of you falling asleep during my speech is high, but I really can’t blame you, as I for one, have the attention span of a goldfish. For example: when Mrs. Bybee asked me “Where do you see yourself in five years,” I immediately responded with: “I believe my biggest weakness is listening.”
Similarly, I imagine Mrs. Jensen will approach me with “Did you procrastinate writing this until last night?” To which I would then respond with: “Pft, no!”
Now before I get too far off track, today I plan to highlight three aspects of our class as a whole.
One: The memories we’ve made, and the experiences we’ve had together.
Some of my classmates will talk about this in the future so I’ll keep this one brief. But if you offered me a million dollars to erase my memories of my classmates I would immediately shoot you down. We’ve had so many defining moments together that I wouldn’t trade for the world: Elementary track meets, Utah Past and Present, Halloween carnivals, that Valentine’s Day date and etiquette activity in fourth grade that we all supposedly dreaded but deep down, secretly looked forward to.
These are memories that you just can’t get at big schools. Obviously we’ll make friends in the future, some of us at college, others on missions, or wherever life takes us, but I really think no one will live up to the relationships I’ve built with my fellow classmates.
Two: The achievements we’ve made.
Our class has been a part of some serious history in Bryce Valley. Over and over we find ourselves in trophy situations. Like when our girls brought home the first-ever state girls cross-country trophy in school history, and then turned around and did it again, or when our boys brought home our first region track championship, and then finished first in cross country just five months later. Or being part of a basketball championship, where one of 2022’s own started at the point guard—shout out to my boy Brock!
Or, cultivating the Bryce Valley debate program, from only eight or nine members to filling up all of our state slots and bringing home second in the state, and then turning around and doing it again. We also acknowledge the nationally-qualifying members of our FBLA and FCCLA chapters.
But it goes way past the medals or the trophies. Our sheer dedication to over-involvement in sports and activities year around has taught us lessons that we’ll carry with us for the rest of our lives. These are the blessings that our overwhelmingly intensive amount of responsibility bear.
And finally,
Three: The qualities we’ve developed as we approached adulthood.
By the time students from Bryce Valley graduate, our teachers can firmly say, “That class is prepared for adulthood.” That’s not something that every school has the right to. In fact, so many kids graduate high school, basically still children. But nothing could be further from the truth about the class of 2022.
Jaden, Gabe, Owen, Poke, and Kadence: thank you for your unending kindness toward anyone and everyone. You have been perfect role models for me throughout high school.
Miles, John, and Kristen: thank you for your relentless athleticism and discipline. You three showed me that the only standard I should ever hold myself to is the absolute best.
Alex, Braysyn, Amanda, and Dallon: you’ve never failed to put a smile on my face.
Reagan, Kym, Mira, and Kandace: your bold and eccentric personalities have taught me so much about finding myself and being fine with who I am.
Trinity, and Rylee: I cannot imagine where I’d be without the two of you helping me become the very best version of myself I can possibly be.
Ben and Brock, your loyalty is unparalleled. It would be infinitely fortuitous to ever find a friend who is willing to stick by my side through everything the way you two have, regardless of how hard things get. This great progress displayed by our class has manifested itself as we’ve grown into the people that we are today.
I want to leave you with a thought that perfectly epitomizes the class of 2022, for we’ve forever proven that actions really do speak louder than words, and living in the moment is far more important than dwelling in the past or worrying about the future. So, as the great late modern philosopher Malcolm James McKormick, better known as Mac Miller once said, “The life you live, is more important than the words you speak.”
I’ll forever be indebted to the community as all of you have continuously assisted in my upbringing, and for that, thank you!
– by Milo Atwood, Valedictorian, Bryce Valley High School
Feature image caption: Milo Atwood addresses the Class of 2022 in his Valedictorian Speech for Bryce Valley.
This address was delivered at graduation commencement on May 15 at Bryce Valley High School.
Read an address from Milo’s Co-Valedictorian, Trinity Whitfield, here.