The other day, my nine-year-old brother asked me for some help with his homework. When I first looked at the math sheet he handed me, I struggled to make it seem as if I knew what I was doing. But after giving it a second glance, I found myself thinking less about math and more about just how comfortably predictable the schooling process has been the past thirteen years of our lives. Ever since kindergarten, we've come to school in the morning, left in the afternoon, and been assigned homework that's due the next day.

It scares me to know that this routine has come to an end. I rest assured, however, knowing that I've learned a lot these past four years, both inside and outside of the classroom. In the presence of all of you, my fellow graduates, I learned that it's okay to be different. Each one of us not only possesses, but also pursues, diverse interests that add to the overall uniqueness of our class. Movies and TV depict the stereotypical high school experience, but I'm so glad to have been part of a class that went against the norm. Among us it was not unheard of to be both an actor and an athlete, an artist and a scholar, or a writer and a musician. While our pop culture counterparts may live on forever by means of multimedia, we'll go down in history for the things that we're bound to achieve as future innovators, politicians, artists, and educators to name a few.

When I tried explaining to my brother that each letter on his math sheet represented a number, the look on his face reminded me of how tempting it may be to want to give up sometimes. There came a time in elementary school when we were expected to have memorized the multiplication tables up to twelve. This meant, for the first time in our lives, learning math that couldn't be done solely by using our fingers. Despite this major setback, we practiced day after day with arrays, flashcards, and countless games of "All around the World" until finally those times tables started to stick. Picture your third grade self: Maybe you're wearing glasses? Maybe your hair is in pigtails? Maybe you have Pokemon cards stashed in your pockets? In any case, recognize that you've overcome obstacles in the past and doing so in the future will require a similarly driven mindset. Never give up, trust in yourself, and know that Watertown High School has prepared you for what lies ahead.

The adults in our school have promoted strength, encouraged confidence, and inspired kindness in us all. We've each been made stronger by at least one teacher whose impeccable standards we aspired to meet. While another teacher's faith in our ability to both master the subject material and reach our future hopes and dreams gave us confidence in ourselves. Moreover, the mere presence of some adults, whose generosity and willingness to help others never fail, motivated us to be more thoughtful.

I never would've imagined that helping my brother with his math homework could force me to think about the future so profoundly. The world seems like a scary place, but trust that you're ready to embark in it, and as you live your life, beware of small occurrences, like working on elementary math with a sibling, that could turn out to be far more significant than you ever would've expected. Live, laugh, love and know that as this stage of your life nears completion, the next awaits you with open arms.