The Arrow Spring 2018

Each year members of the graduating class are selected as Honor Graduates. These students serve as speakers for the graduation ceremony. Following is the text of their speeches.

A Word to the Class of 2018 – Bolu Salami

M orning esteemed guests, students, families of the graduating class, faculty and staff. My name is Bolu Salami and today, I will be speaking to the gradu ating Class of 2018. When my sister and I first moved to America and decid ed with our parents that we would be attending Oak Hill Academy, there really wasn’t a lot to be said between us. We had already been in boarding school for three years prior to moving to the states and the only form of change we would be experiencing would be of the envi ronment and in some ways, the culture. However, there was one thing in particular that stood out at the time that my parents said to me as they dropped me off at the chapel on that Saturday evening two years ago in August. They told me, “Always remem ber from whence you came, and never forget the son of whom you are.” I initially felt a lot of resentment toward that statement because I thought it was an indirect but warning reference to my past, the mistakes I once made and the disappointments that they did not want me to bring to them ever again as parents. As the years have gone by though, I see more clearly. I can now see that their message was supposed to con stantly let me know that no matter where I end up in life, I can never leave my roots and those who raised me into the person I am in this moment. I believe that, technically, since everyone is a product of their past experiences, then everyone is in a fundamental way, ‘raised’ by everyone and everything that we come into contact with. For us, the Class of 2018, the entities that “raised” us includes Oak Hill Academy. Whether or not we like it, there is an inescapable fact that in more ways than one, this school is a part of our history both individually and as a group. This means that it is our duty as soon-to-be alumni of this school to carry on a positive image and representation of where we’ve passed the last year or few years by living our best lives after we leave. As we transition into the next phases of our lives, the only thing we can be certain of is change and in life, change creates opportunity, a blank slate. The only source of adversity is in our attitude toward change, whether we treat it negatively and try to reject it, or we welcome it and accept it because whether or not we want change, the fact remains that life will constantly move until the day we die. The majority of people become used to their natural stream of life. Mentally, people live well in a sta tus quo situation, at home, work, school, and in day-to day life as well but as a lot of us already know, “variety is the spice of life” and without change, there can be

no variety of experiences to shape one’s character. So, I would like to implore us all to embrace the changes that occur in our lives wholeheartedly as we transition from high school into our various next stages in our journeys toward the desti nies that await us. Now standing up here today, I’m aware of the stereotypes, prejudices and negative expectations surrounding us, the graduat ing class of 2018, as teenagers, young men and women moving precariously through adolescence, gathering experience and wisdom in order to pursue careers and life goals as adults, making and surviving the mistakes that come along the way. Yet, I strongly believe that each and every one of us has the means to achieve great things beyond even our wildest dreams. I once read that one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself is to decide, without apology, to commit to the journey that is life and not to the outcome. I also do be lieve that the only way to achieve this and be satisfied is to find out that which we believe is great work, and the only way to do that is to love what you do. Some of us already know what this is; some of us already know what direction they’d prefer life to take, but for those of us like me, who still don’t, or are trying to make the key decision, let us never settle. Until we find our niche, let’s never settle. Thank you.