Tatum Bell's Valedictory Speech

            As valedictorian, I am supposed to speak on behalf of the Class of 2007, to say farewell to our alma mater VES. We have, wouldn’t you all agree, a very distinct personality as a class this year formed by all the individual, multifaceted, eccentric personalities that compose it. I don’t know how I can accurately reflect the feelings of the class as a whole today; I don’t know how any one person can. I am just one member of this class with my own personality, so I will do my best to link my experience at VES to the class’s.

I do not know why I am the way I am: serious about academics, athletics, and my other passions. Sometimes I wish I weren’t so serious, but I guess it is simply in my blood. My dad was the one who was the most worried about me burning out, and to try to take the stress off he would remind me over and over that the only real purpose of education is to “learn how to learn.” That is so true, and it always helped immensely. Don’t get me wrong, I have fun in everything I do, … but seriously, I just can’t help it—everything has significant importance to me. My comfort zones are, oddly enough, my desk with the comfort of my books, my favorite chair in Hopkins Writing Center that looks out on Box Plaza’s cherry trees, my piano, and my family dinner table at home. What you might not know is that while I have always been serious about studying, for a time I was not in the least interested in getting outside the comfort zones I just named. During biology class freshman year, I was sitting with Courtney Scruggs and Jesse Kay discussing student government elections. At this time I would just like to say how I miss Jesse and wish he were graduating with us today. Both Courtney and Jesse were running for Freshman President, but I was not. Jesse asked me why I was not running, because to him I seemed like that type that would be ambitious for a government title. Quite the opposite from what he expected, I responded believe it or not, “I am not that outgoing.” I don’t know why I was that way freshman year. Maybe, in my freshman mind, I felt like a tiny fish in the new, big pond of VES.

I don’t know what exactly happened between freshman and sophomore year that made me suddenly interested and thirsty to do more than just have my high school career marked by studying and a numerical, cold GPA, which ironically got me here standing before you today. I know my transformation had something to do with VES, but I can’t pinpoint what it is. All I know is that when that desire awakened, all the opportunities were there, provided by VES.

This is where my story comes together with my peers’ story. Although as a class we have diverse personalities, we all share two common factors that have contributed to the development of our class’s unique identity: VES and America. For the last four years, or perhaps it was just three, two, or one year, we have all been enclosed in the “VES bubble.” I don’t mean this in a negative way. In this incubator of sorts, we have been nurtured by our beloved teachers, coaches, dorm parents, and, moreover, our friends. Oh goodness, I have to use a good old cliché, the one in the VES brochures … we have been raised in this family, albeit an unconventional, sometimes dysfunctional family. Although I am still serious, my personality has changed because of VES and all of you, my class, in ways that you have no idea. I thank you guys for that.

Secondly, America has shaped us. Yes, this does apply to you international students, too. We have been young witnesses to many defining, world-changing moments just in our middle school and high school tenures. We were 7^th graders when 9/11 rocked the country; then 8^th graders when the war in Iraq began; sophomores when the Tsunami hit Asia and the US had to respond; juniors when Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast; and lastly seniors, seniors about to go off to college, when the worst college tragedy occurred at Virginia Tech. What has amazed me though is that even in the VES incubator that sometimes has the tendency to isolate us from the outside world and in this world where teenagers are notorious for their apathy, these event rocked VES students also—we volunteered to help soldiers in Iraq and victims of the Tsunami, hurricane, and VT tragedy.

These events have shaped us and will continue to have an influence on us and the world we live in, whether we realize it now or not. Just as VES has fostered our small, 63 person class, the America we live in has fostered all graduates of 2007 around the country; we are part of a huge class of 2007. Furthermore, all of us (100%) were accepted to college as part of their class of 2011. When we finally graduate from all that education and are no longer part of a school class, we will be part of a new generation made up of the babies born in the mid to late 1980’s. This generation will also have its own unique personality.

When I was asked in my college interview, “Have you ever faced any adversity and how did you overcome it?” I was stumped for a moment. But the answer was obvious and truthful: I haven’t faced adversity. Sure I have had to work hard, face a few obstacles, and endure disappointments, but that isn’t necessarily adversity. This wealth of opportunities was and is provided by my family, VES, and my country. I am sure some of my peers have faced more adversity than I have, but they have overcome it to graduate. However, the fact that we are graduating today with a high school diploma from a great school, have our families here that support us, and are about to go on to college, we have a privilege and a responsibility to give something back to all those that provided for us. We have an obligation to make our generation a great one. My mom always says: “Noblesse oblige—To whom much is given, much is required.”

Here is to the VES Class of 2007, the College Class of 2011, and the next generation of Americans, Koreans, Germans, and Lithuanians. Remember to always Live Strong. From all of us— Farewell VES, and thank you.