Skarleth M .

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Sergio M .

Now I can’t remember where I heard this but this quote really stuck out to me and it says, “it is not up to us to create our destiny but to fulfill it”. It was the middle of my junior year and I knew the end of high school was coming soon and I began to contemplate my life. I recalled when I had moved to Utah at seven years old with my mother and my sister. Soon after moving here my mom began working to support and I sister and she would always told us to do good in school because that was going to be the key to our success. I thought about this and I said to my self “it’s true I cannot create my own destiny because just how I didn’t have a choice in coming here at 7 years old I don’t have a choice on what tomorrow brings but whatever tomorrow brings it is up to me to make it work for me the best It can not matter if it’s an obstacle or an opportunity and it is up to us to fulfill our own destinys.
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MilenaP.

I was once asked by a teacher here at Ames, “how can you describe Ames” and it took me a while to figure out what to say, because how am I going to describe such an odd school? Then the perfect response came to mind. “Ames is like a box of crayons.” We have people from everywhere. We all have our special attitudes (Nathan) and we all contribute to this school in a great way. This is what makes our school so “odd” and unique.
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Christopher B.

Throughout my time at AMES, I’ve often reflected on that moment when I found my first AMES friend. From that point on, I felt that everything was going to work out. The faculty and staff definitely reinforced this. AMES was a place where I would not only learn academically, but socially. I have learned important lessons about how to interact with people that will extend beyond high school to college and life. 
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Jessica P .

Dr. Church, I can stand here and say thanks to you a million and one times, that still wouldn’t be enough to express to you how thankful I am to have had you as my principal, honestly I feel as if its an insult for me to label you as my principal, because you deserve such a higher title than that, I never saw you as a principal, you were always more than just a principal, you are more like that father figure to me than I’ve never had in my life. YOU stepped out of the ordinary principle’s role and you didn’t have to but you chose to. Dr. Church there was NEVER a time that I went to you with a problem and you didn’t have a way to solve it even if it seemed impossible for a solution to come about, you created one. DR. Al CHURCH today I want to thank you in the highest way I possibly can. So therefore THANK YOU DR. AL CHURCH! 
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Teague C.

Song - Telecasted Disaster
I tried to hide inside what you told me I should be. I had one foot firm on the ground, but the other in the sea. I tried to convince you I was nothing, but the truth was staring right through me. And I promised that this time things would change, I could stand up, but I know that nothing's different. I still can't look or act that tough. And a voice can be deceiving but mine is just as easy to believe. So I swore that this time I could give up. Until that day came I was convinced I'd had enough. I felt sickened by this art of acting tough, so I'm done acting up.
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Trang H.

Today is graduation, the ending of a journey most of us began four years ago. So many things have happened in between those four years. Strangers became friends, teachers became parents, AMES became family and Dr.Church became a legend. I remember my first day at AMES, confused and scared by the unfamiliar faces and the new environment. I talked to only those I knew and wished that school was already over. I was insecure and was too afraid to get out of my bubble. Four years later as it all comes to an end, I wish that I was that freshman again. I liked being young. I liked not having to worry about college, my career and my future. I liked it when goodbyes at the end of the school year meant "I'll see you here in three months." I'm not ready to leave the people i became close with and go venture out and find new ones. I would have never met any of these wonderful people if it weren't for AMES.
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Carmen Z .

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Kenan K.

Inferiority is also challenged by the student body themselves. It was truly refreshing to find a school where intellectualism is highly valued and “nerd” is the highest form of compliment. Every student who attends AMES has a deep passion for continued learning and puts forth their best effort to do so. Standing before you today is a group of people who have pushed the limits, ventured into the realm of the unknown and have developed his or her lives in such a way that inferiority will never be able to set in.
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Janette M.

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Maia B-D and Cesia D-L.

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Sara M.

I was recently flipping through an AMES yearbook that I have and I came across a picture of several kids standing behind a sign. The Sign said,

“I am amesian. I’ve chosen concentration over conformity, Imagination over social acceptance. I am amesian!!!”

Though this definition is a very good description of what AMES or being amsian is let me tell you my definition of being amesian. 4 years ago amesian meant leaving all of my friends behind for a new journey, a journey I wasn’t ready for, but was forced to take. In the end, it was a decision I can’t thank my family for enough. Amesian was discovering new friends that soon became family members.
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Yonatan B.

When I talk with my friends from other high schools, most of them hate their schools; whether it’s because their teachers lack the motivation to teach or because their counselors are surprised when some of them are graduating. At Ames you build important one-on-one relationship with everyone on the staff; everyone here cares about your future and goes out of their way to help you in anything you need. You get to know everyone here as though they were a second family. You feel comfortable going into their classrooms and you know that if there is ever anything you need all the teachers here will always be behind you 100%. The counselors at Ames are people that are here, not because they have to be, but because they want to see you succeed and achieve everything in life to your full potential.
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Mele F.

Today has been so far the best day of my life , I have completed the first step into the future that awaits. Until now our world has been in hands of the unknown which controls our ideals, our future and our views. We have been in the shadows of our teachers, parents and friends anticipating our turn to rule this world. But the time is passing away. Now we have the exciting opportunity of controlling our own destiny , leaving our childhood and entering the world of adulthood.
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Jordan B.

I wrote this speech the moment I got home from the senior banquet about two weeks ago. First because I am a true AMESian and senioritis took its toll and I put it off until Dr. Church said it was absolutely due, but also because when we received our “Hogwarts” like caps and gowns that we are so stylishly showing off today, every memory from my time at this haven that we call AMES, rushed through me. I remembered everything from walking in those big doors for the first day of school with my awkward smile, plaid shorts, and a striped shirt that Courtney who reminds me to this day that plaid and stripes don’t match, to rapping about the country of Bhutan and having Dr. Church walk in halfway through with that “what the hell” look on his face, to making math jokes in the middle of calculus, or to playing in my air band for open mic. I was surrounded by people I love and I felt that everything was right with the world.
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SenaB.

I have made so many friends, teachers and classmates that have gone along with me for this ride. Some of us may never see each other again after today, and many of us will stay here at this theme park while some us might go on to Disneyworld or Universal Studios. As we go our separate ways, moving on from high school to college always remember the good times we’ve had here at AMES. High school was a crazy ride but it’s nothing compared to the one that awaits us. So take this diploma as a ticket, a ticket to life, the biggest ride of all. Isn’t it the truth that time flies when your having fun. It seems like I just got here and now the theme parks already closing. Exit to your left and thank you for riding AMES.
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