- Sedalia School District 200
- Welcome
Eric Izazaga 2017 Valedictorian Speech
My fellow graduates, high school is, whether we like it or not, arguably among the most memorable milestones in an adult's life. Despite that, I'm sure most of us are more than ready to progress into a new chapter in our lives; however, to those who are not ready, you have persevered to this point and only greatness is expected of the graduating Class of 2017. The patron saint of translators, librarians, and encyclopedists, as boring as that may sound, said, “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Till your good is better and your better is best.” That sort of mental attitude allowed me to constantly seek improvement in myself; moreover, Smith-Cotton High School has allowed me to improve with the technologies and staff that the school provides. Above all, I would like to take a moment to thank the staff and parents who have aided us in pursuing a bright future that I expect out of all of us.
Calling back to a robotics trip, my roommates were roused early in the morning by my reminder of the significance of the date. Accordingly, we prepared to head down near the lobby of the inn to eat breakfast with the team. Rapidly we ate breakfast and soon the charter bus was brimming with faces excited for how the day would unravel. Upon arrival an epiphany sprouted from random thought: “What a marvelous contraption, despite initial doubt about its capabilities, have we engineered over the span of less than two months. Truly, we have made a valiant effort regardless of the outcome of the FIRST Robotics World Championship.” Retrospectively fathoming a reality in which I am not a member of Team SCREAM is inconceivable to me. My account is just one of many stories that has been created for me as well as my peers due to the abundance of extracurricular activities that Smith-Cotton offers. I hope that as the senior class my peers have allowed themselves to become more involved throughout the duration of our last high school year because socialization is required to pursue a successful future and I wish for all of us to succeed.
Senior year has been very insightful and memorable with many new connections made and unfortunately a few lost. Smith-Cotton teachers are very well connected with their students and manage to keep them involved. This year I have learned how to solder with Papa Walters, one of Smith-Cotton’s engineering teachers, continuing to be a math geek in Mrs. Crane's calculus class, as well as taking it upon myself to learn how to operate and use programming software for a CNC machine. Despite Mr. Walter's inability to follow up on his promise to make our Digital Electronics class one of his famous homemade pizzas, senior year has been enjoyable and I could not have asked for a better set of teachers. Accordingly, any success I may achieve in the future is partially attributed to the excellent teachers who have taught me and the family that has supported me.
My childhood is difficult to recollect, but I do recall not being able to speak English when I began kindergarten. Learning a new language was not very difficult as a child since I was eager to learn and I was surrounded by English at school. Given that, I am not the only one who faced adversity do to my ethnic background; therefore, I believe it is my duty to congratulate those graduates who share my ethnic background and faced similar obstacles as a child.
Throughout high school I strived to learn more every day and I was capable of completing this task with the assistance of the resources Smith-Cotton provides. All things considered, I hope that my fellow graduates have had a memorable senior year at Smith-Cotton thanks to teachers, friends and family who are here supporting us.