Just a few weeks ago, as most of our high school classes were beginning to come to an end, the opportunity to begin making housing reservations for next year arose. I became frustrated with the online application as well as the people in charge of housing reservations, as I am aware many of you did as well. As things began piling up, I started becoming more and more overtaken with the feeling that I wasn’t ready to move on. I became frustrated and as I searched for something to blame, one thing came to mind. I wanted to blame AMES, I made a huge deal, and repeated that AMES has not lived up to its goal, and has not prepared me to move on to college. I was on my own.

I decided at this point that I would go on by myself, and figure out who I needed to talk to, to handle the problem with no assistance. I rode around campus on the shuttle, and had quite a bit of time to think on my own. As I rode from building to building I realized that this is what AMES had done, it had not solved my problems, but rather prepared me to solve the problems for myself. The communication and problem solving skills, as well as all the campus tours Dr. Church encouraged, or rather insisted we attend had prepared me to handle the problem as it arose.

Problem solving skills are not the only things I have learned from AMES, in fact I could not even mention all the things I have learned over the past four years in the three minutes I have up here today, but I am sure I can talk about a few. One of the most important skills I have greatly developed over the past four years is the ability to work with other people. Weather trying to put together a power point to present, sitting around in a circle with polyatomic ions stuck to our foreheads, or persevering through the stress of planning spirit week, I don’t think I could have accomplished nearly as much as I have without the assistance of my peers. There are still times in group activities when I want to just throw things and give up. I know I still have a lot of work to do, but I can see how far AMES has helped me to progress.

That is another thing AMES has taught me, there is always more to learn, and you can always do better. I always figured I would reach a maximum point, and that would be the point where I stopped learning. One of the greatest things about the teachers here is they never pretend to know everything; it is a reminder that you never stop learning. I have learned it is okay to ask for help, and I am not expected to know everything. Once I was able to surrender some of my pride I felt smarter, because now I was able to learn more.

I want to finish off today with the quote that I analyzed for my senior portfolio. It is from my favorite 90’s TV show, Boy Meets World  “And when you’re not a little boy anymore, when the world has taught you how to be a man, then you’ll still make mistakes but your family and all your good friends you’ve made along the way will help you, and even though you’ll think the world has gone out of its way to teach you all the tough lessons, you’ll realize that it’s the same world that’s given you your family and those friends. You’ll come to believe that no matter what happens; somehow the world will protect you.” This quote will continue to ring in my mind as I move on in my life. I hope the friendships I have made here at AMES develop into life long relationships. I feel so lucky to be up here today with this group of people who are all destined for greatness, and I can’t wait to someday be able to say “I knew them when…”