The Herald is publishing some of the speeches being given by local graduating seniors at high school commencement ceremonies. See more speeches and photos here.

The following four Valedictorians teamed up to write and give a speech entitled “Surviving vs. Thriving” to their fellow graduates.

Jacob Lawrence, School for the Entrepreneur High School

Ruth Bas, BioMed Academy High School

Theresa Amba, International School of Communications High School

Lorraine Abagatnan, International School of Communications High School

Surviving vs. Thriving

On the edge of a new chapter in our lives we must look inside ourselves and ask a question. Who do we want to be? Up until now the outline of our lives has been predetermined. Up until now we have been limited in our freedom to choose where we go, where we live, and what we do. This incomplete control of our lives may be frustrating at times, but it sure makes life easier. We may not be fully able to choose where we live, but we have not had to deal with the entirety of the stress of making ends meet. These deferments of choice and responsibility have granted us greater safety and security. But no longer, we are leaving the safety net behind. We are in the process of moving on from the comfort of routine and journeying into the unknown. So again I’ll ask, who do we want to be? The future may be unclear, but its very uncertainty carves the perfect opening for us to take hold of our lives and choose our path. At this juncture, we have a choice, a real choice. Do we want to just survive, or do we want to thrive? High school has provided structure in our lives, and it may be daunting to think of what lies ahead, but this loss of structure grants us freedom. Take this freedom and use it to thrive.

Here is some math: We all know that 52 weeks make up a year. If an average American lives 80 years (80 years x 52 weeks in a year), he or she lives 4171 weeks total. And so, if you turned 18 today, you have lived a whopping 938 weeks of your life already. You stand some 62 weeks away from living your first 1000 weeks, assuming you will be blessed to see all of your weeks. That’s almost a fourth of your life! This is a good place to stop and reflect on what you have already done. The follow­up question, then, is: what will you do with the 3000 ish weeks you have left? Ultimately, it’s your choice. But remember one thing to get to your destination, whatever it may be, there is more than one path. To graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree, let’s say, someone can go to a 4 ­year school. Or that person could go to a community college and then transfer to a 4­year. Or if the program of choice is offered at the community college, this person may just stay there and get their Bachelor’s Degree. And of course, getting a Bachelor’s Degree isn’t the only criteria for success. In essence, it’s not so much about where you go. It’s more about what you do to get to where you are going and what you will do when you finally get there. Will you choose to do many worthwhile things, such as pursue your calling in life, or will you just live life on cruise control, never fulfilling your potential? It’s your choice.

Ask yourself, “why am I here?” Seriously, ask yourself. Why are you here? With graduation, there is so much more than the pictures and the grad parties. Yes, we can relax­­for a little bit. But after that, it only gets faster. We work and thrive for growth. Remember, graduation is not an end. Rather, it is a milestone. We shouldn’t think “oh, I’ll be happy once this happens,” or “oh, I’ll be content when this happens.” We can’t put our happiness in the future, we can’t wait for someone else or something else to solve our problems for us. Rather, instead of just surviving we should choose to take action and thrive No great billionaire became successful because they worked only when they were motivated or inspired. Every great billionaire became great because they worked hard, even in times where they didn’t want to work at all. The key here is discipline. No one will be there to hold our hands and tell us how to live our lives, so we must find our own inner reasons to thrive. Why are you here, graduating? Why are you going to college? Or the military? Or the workforce? There’s no time for “getting by and settling,” or living off of inspiration. Motivation is fleeting, but discipline is long lasting.

Graduation isn’t the end. In fact, it is the only the beginning. Now, we face the decision to choose between two paths of life: the well­trodden and worn path, and the path with tall grass, never before explored. For the majority of us in this room, we’ve all traveled the well­trodden path. We’ve studied the material, we’ve taken the tests, we’ve survived going to school at 7 in the morning for four years. We know the path so well, we could do it in our sleep. But with the end of high school in just a few moments, we, the Class of 2016, have a whole new chapter of our lives waiting for us. The truth is, we don’t know when it’ll all end, when we won’t have the opportunities to risk spectacularly or to try new things. So what will you do with that time? Will you pick the familiar easy path, or the uncertain path? It’s not in my place to define what is “right” for any person­­that’s something that you’ll have to define for yourself. But what I can say is that there is an easier variant of our lives that won’t be as satisfying. We can pick the easy way. We can choose to sit back and live our lives without ever taking the chance, without ever taking a leap of faith. But this isn’t the time, because at 18 years old, we have so many opportunities to live our lives to the fullest. You see, we can choose our path. We can choose to think positively, to react accordingly, to think of we before me, to thrive. Life is all about being proactive, not reactive, but it’s your choice. What will you choose?