Gabriella received the Hillbrook Award when she graduated in 2015. The Hillbrook Award is given to the student in a class who best exemplifies Hillbrook’s Vision: to inspire students to achieve their dreams and reach beyond themselves to make a difference in the world.
Greetings, faculty, staff, family, friends, and most importantly, the graduates up on this stage. Whether you’ve been at Hillbrook for one year or ten years, congratulations! You’ve unlocked and mastered every level of the game. You’ve rightfully dominated every play structure on campus; you’ve read every novel that Hillbrook assigns; and you’ve crushed every Friday Fitness.
And now, you go on to high school. Which means… you can finally relate to all those Hollywood movies you’ve been watching!! High School Musical, Mean Girls, Clueless, the list goes on. Well, okay, it’s a little bit more than that. I’m sure most of you are left with a bittersweet feeling, as you have formed some of the tightest friendships you will ever form. Just last month, I attended a reunion with the class of 2015, my class. And if I were to go into detail of how amazing it was, you’d probably still be up here by the time these guys (pointing to the first graders) graduate.
Fortunately, high school is also full of new adventures, friendships, and privileges. For example, you can now use your iPad at lunch and recess. You can drive to school—and by that I mean picking up your friends, rolling down the windows, and playing the song “Sicko Mode” at full blast. You can choose your class schedule, more or less—if you love reading, you can take two different English classes in one year. You can go to prom, which is obviously the sole purpose of attending high school, if you ask any Hollywood director. (No, it really isn’t.) You can better manage your homework thanks to more frequent study halls. You can go off campus for lunch — or if that’s not allowed, just try not to get caught.
If you ask me, it sounds like paradise. And yes, a lot of it is. But you can never be too careful in preparing for high school. And I hope, that by sharing with you a couple of lessons I’ve learned along the way, I can spare you things like the wrath of Regina George, from the movie Mean Girls.
For my first insight, I’ll start with you a story — one that took place at my summer college last year. One night, the college was hosting its annual talent show, just like Hillbrook does. When intermission came on, the host announced, “Okay everybody, we will need a few volunteers to come up on stage please!” Now, in this moment, I thought, Alright. Back at Hillbrook, it’s very normal to jump on a stage and… maybe tell a joke. So what’s the worst that can happen in front of these three hundred people? So, my friends and I shoved each other up on stage. We had no idea what I signed up for.
All of a sudden (and to my absolute horror), the lights dimmed; the spotlight shone our faces; Finesse by Bruno Mars blasted from the speakers; and the host boomed, “Dance battle! GO!” Oh. My. Goodness, I thought, as I peered at the three hundred expectant faces. My body froze like an ice cube, and I suddenly forgot my middle name. You see, it’s not that I was afraid of an audience; the problem was that my dancing experience was only suitable for some questionable mosh pits at a school dance. What was I going to do? Well, fortunately, thanks to the improv skills that Hillbrook taught me, I played along, made up a dance, and it turned out okay. In fact, as hard as it was to admit it, I actually kind of liked it.
Soon, and to my surprise, I found myself scrambling to audition for my school’s dance team, which was only last year. It was incredible; I got to dance with an amazing group of people; I learned that teamwork doesn’t only lie in the sports I’ve play, but in dance routines; and I got to perform in front of my school for the first time.
When I think of this experience, my mind automatically races to Hillbrook’s core value, “Take Risks.” I don’t mean taking the wrong sorts of risks, like scaling your friend’s rooftop and doing a double backflip 360 into the pool. But maybe you can join a play; or tryout for freshman lacrosse; or sign up for art class. High school is where you can both pick up new skills and sharpen your old ones. Join as many activities as you can, even if they’re completely new to you. Because Hillbrook has definitely prepared you to do so. Also, you’ll make new friends that way.
Speaking of friends, I have another tip for you: make great friends in your class, and make equally great friends in the grades above and below you — and from other schools, too. This includes your Hillbrook pals. Let me illustrate why you should do this, in addition to having a shoulder to lean on, and all-around good company. For example: Do your math problems look like they came straight from the works of Albert Einstein himself? Ask a junior for their old notes. Need a certain textbook? Maybe you can get yours for free, from an older student, and save hundreds of dollars. In need of a good time? Maybe, instead of simply attending prom at your own high school, you can go to an additional prom somewhere else, too. Overall, make friends from all corners of the world while you’re in high school.
My final piece of advice is: just have fun. You might be thinking, Yes but I come from Hillbrook, so I already know how to do that. But in high school, it can sometimes seem more complicated than that for some reason — specifically, when resumes and college applications get in the mix. For instance, I have personally seen certain students pull an all-nighter and then show up to class with Cheetos for breakfast. Or other students treat college applications like a four-year Olympic triathlon. Or others simply sign up for too many APs. Not all students, rest assured, but some. DON’T be that person. Instead, strive to find an all-around balance in your life — which absolutely includes fun, and also your best effort academically. For that is how you will thrive. Class of 2019, Hillbrook has undoubtedly prepared you well for what’s to come. And hopefully, you had fun in the process. Now, the clock is ticking till you can leap into summer and then explore the uncharted lands of high school. And whether your experience is closer to High School Musical, or Clueless, or something totally new, I hope that your time there eclipses that of any movie. Congratulations, 2019, once again. Thank you.
Gaby did her usual, fabulous job of reminding us all that education and the experiences that go with are about the whole person. I know she’ll thrive, bringing this awareness into her college experience and her life.