CLASS OF 2025
Valedictorian | Jaden C. Franklin
if there’s anything I’ve learned about people, it’s that the real winners in life are those who don’t let their passions sit idly by. Oftentimes, we let life drag us by the leash, simply taking what is presented to us. In doing so, we relinquish our ability to convert our dreams into reality. So, today, to my fellow graduates — and to any yearning person in the audience — harness the fight within you, and do not give up. At the end of our lives, we are faced with all the decisions we made and did not make. I beg you all today to start making decisions now, so that when you look back in 10, 20, 30, even 40 years — when you’re balding and your joints start predicting the weather — you can feel satisfaction in the choices you did make. So, whatever that dream is — do it tired, do it angry, do it happy, do it sad, do it excited. Do it until your dreams are no longer just dreams. Remember: Only you decide what is possible. So, choose the impossible. To the Maricopa High School class of 2025: May God bless you and guide you in all your endeavors. I’d like to share my gratitude for my family, friends, educators and Jesus Christ, who have so attentively ushered me through all the seasons of my life. Also — thank you, Beyoncé. Tonight, leave not only with your diploma, but with the confidence that you are a person who can and will do what it takes. Thank you all, God bless you and have an unforgettable rest of your evening.
G
ood evening, friends, families and educators. What a joyous day!
My name is Jaden C. Franklin, and I would like to take a moment to give a round of applause to the graduates and all the support systems and people who helped get them here today. It takes courage and determination to achieve anything, and finishing 12 years of general education is no small feat. Although for many of you here today this ceremony may seem routine, I want to hone in on the significance of this day and remind the audience what an honor it is to be gathered here. I have one message for the audience this evening: The people who believe they can’t are the people who don’t. Over the past four years, I’ve had the privilege of making a lot of wonderful and enriching connections both in and outside Maricopa High School’s gates. And
24 MHS • Class of 2025
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