Salutatorian speech

It is indeed an honor to stand up here and represent my class, Quintessence. Quintessence is the purest essence extracted from a substance. As we graduate, we have risen to the challenge and proven ourselves excellent in various fields. The number of outstanding athletes, writers, artists, philosophers, actors and musicians we have in our class is undoubtedly worthy of recognition. Many of you may be unaware, but collectively, we have accumulated scholarships worth about a million dollars, the peak of what has ever been achieved by any class of Woodstock.

What we are today is largely because of the influence of various people in our lives. Our parents, whose constant love and support made us believe in ourselves and gave us confidence to strive to achieve our dreams. The Woodstock community, be it the teachers without whose invaluable guidance and encouragement we could not have made it this far or the [employees] who served us diligently everyday. On behalf of my class, I would like to thank all the parents, teachers, and the rest of the Woodstock community for bringing out the best in us.

True, we have not been the utmost perfect representatives of Woodstock School. No one can be perfect. We have misbehaved but we have also realized our mistakes, faced the consequences and learned important lessons from our experiences. I am sure that the Woodstock community has noticed the improvement in us as we have progressed through our school years. No matter how much trouble we got into, in the end, we managed to get hold of ourselves and make ourselves, as well as the community, proud of us.

In these acknowledgements, it would be not be fair if I left out one of the strongest influences on the class. It is the class itself. Each member of the class has played an immeasurable role in shaping each other. We have, intentionally or unintentionally, taught each other invaluable lessons that can only be gained by experience, about each others' cultures, about adjusting to different cultures, about friendship and so on. The list is endless.

While writing this speech, a question came to my mind. What is the most precious lesson that I have learned from the class? I was not sure of the answer. Though there is so much I have gained from this class, I could not decide what I treasured the most. In order to help myself to reach a conclusion, I asked a few staff members what they thought the best quality of our class was. The answer was unanimous. They all said that our class is exceptionally friendly. When I gave it more thought, I realized that the most valuable lesson that I have obtained from the class is because of its affability. From Quintessence, I learnt the significance of the smallest friendly gestures we make in our daily lives. When I first came to Woodstock, I did not have a sense of belonging here. I had a culture shock. However, the affable nature of my classmates eased the process of adjustment for me. The smallest action from a 'hello,' to a compliment or help with homework gave me assurance that I could be accepted the way I was. The friendliness of the class, not only within itself but also with the other classes, staff and employees made me feel at home.

Quintessence, we are the heart of Woodstock School. We have made a difference in the Woodstock community. Remember, we count. As we venture out into the world, we can make a difference in the larger community with our own little gestures. I would like to end with a verse from the Bible, Proverbs 11: 25, "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed".