Liberty graduates face new opportunities

Coming from a small rural school and a senior class of just 48, most of us have grown up together.

Thirteen years ago, we embarked on an odyssey. Coming together as strangers, we didn’t have a clue what our futures held.

We were innocent, pure and careless children. Our biggest worries were whom we’d sit next to on the bus, what was for lunch and what we’d do at recess.

It wasn’t about college, what career we’d choose or if we’d be successful in life.

Little did we know, we already were being pushed toward difficult decisions that some of us today still don’t have an answer for. As a class we traveled through life together on the same path, a path that has had many twists and turns, ups and downs and detours.

We’ve grown from easygoing children to expressive individuals. Today we are all different.

Our individuality is what makes each one of us a success, a success that doesn’t have to deal with wealth or fame. Each one of us has the opportunity to engage and fulfill our life’s goals and ambitions.

The path that we have been walking, running and skipping along for the past 13 years stops here. Soon we will be on our own. We will have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others.

We can have a positive impact on our community, state and nation’s future. The decisions we make now determine whom we impact for the rest of our lives.

Danny Thomas once stated, “Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.”

Graduating this year, I have mixed emotions.

I’m excited to see a new world and have the opportunity to follow my passion, but I’ve known this school and have been able to call it home for the majority of my life.

As our class motto states, “Arise, go forth and conquer, for today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

Congratulations, Liberty High School Class of 2006 – may you all enjoy a life filled with true happiness and success!