By MICHAEL SLANINKA

Dear Class of 2012,

Congratulations! We did it! We have completed a major milestone in all our lives.

If you are like me, you may have thought that this day was so far off it might never come. We have all had challenges along this journey, and it is not the challenges that life presents that define us; it is our response to them; that is how others remember us. We have responded to the challenges in our academic lives by realizing that we needed to work harder and stay focused and today, because of our response to the educational challenges in each of our lives, we are here this evening.

But we can not take all the credit. I would personally like to thank my parents, Angelo and Cynthia, parents away from home Gary and NancyGaskill, my grandparents and most importantly Jesus Christ, to whom I owe all that I am or will ever hope to become. All of us have had some great and supportive teachers, who have become mentors and friends. I speak for the entire class, “Thank You.”

After tonight, we may never see each other again. I don’t know where this road called life will take you.

I know that after much prayer and speaking with my parents I have chosen to serve in the Army, and perhaps without the experiences I have had at Cedar Lane, I might have gone down another road.

Whatever road you chose to follow, I wish you all the very best. I leave you with this my friends, being here tonight, took faith and belief in us.

So my question to you is this — if we utilize the same faith and belief that we have used to accomplish this, what is the limit of our success?

There isn’t one. On this road of life, failure can follow us for the rest of our lives, but will never catch up.

Good luck and God bless you!