|
|
Graduation Speech Given in June 2001 by Conor '96
Good evening to everyone. I am no stranger to this stage. During my nine years at Chesapeake Montessori School, I took the stage countless times for chorus productions, plays, and my own graduation. I can still remember the excitement before each performance and the sense of accomplishment that you could feel drifting from everyone after the show. In fact, it was about five years ago that I took the stage as Milo for my class performance of The Phantom Tollbooth.
There are a lot of things about Chesapeake Montessori that stand out in my mind. At CMS I took for granted that I was able to choose my homework according to my own schedule. Well, all that has changed during these past few years, but I now realize how that seemingly small responsibility helped me become more independent and taught me that it is important to plan ahead when it comes to schoolwork.
Something else that I loved about Chesapeake Montessori was the close group of friends made and kept all throughout the years a CMS. Friends made here at CMS are special because, through the wonders of small class size and a small student population, everyone knows just about everything about all of their other classmates. To know that much about a person is something that not everyone has a chance to do later in their educational career, and that is what makes the friends at CMS the best friends you'll ever have. Although I do not attend school with any members of my graduating class, I still see them frequently. And when I look at my best childhood friends, I remember all the moments shared between my classmates and me….But what I remember most about Chesapeake Montessori was being overcome with sadness when my 5th grade year was over. Chesapeake Montessori was all I had ever known, and it was all I ever wanted to know.
But what I learned at CMS prepared me for the years to come, and I adjusted to my new school perfectly well. The education I received had put me ahead of all of my new classmates in several ways. I had learned the power of initiative, how to take things into my own hands. I learned how to cooperate with others and most importantly, I learned how to create something from merely an idea. My Montessori education has helped me to become a better person and a better student, and I am thankful for every time the highlighter came down on my weekly work list to remind me of things left unfinished. I have found that I can do almost anything I set my mind to, with the help of the knowledge I have gained over my 16 years….
I'd like to conclude by saying that there is life after Montessori, and you will be that much better because of your experience at CMS. Thank you for allowing me to express what I've known all along: there will never be a place I miss more than CMS.
Conor, 1996 Alumnus
|
|
|
|
|
