Co-Valedictorian: Overcome obstacles by moving forward

The following is the address delivered by Maricopa High School co-valedictorian Alfred Abraham to the Class of 2017 on graduation night, May 25.

By Alfred Abraham

My name is Alfred Abraham and I am proud to be the co-valedictorian of the Maricopa High School Class of 2017. I was originally born in India and spent the first three years of my life in Singapore. When I was 3 years old, my family moved to the United States.

I started out with a lot of difficulties. I acquired the ability to speak in sentences significantly later than most kids, at the age of 5. I was placed in special education because of my difficulties in speaking and writing. Countless nights were spent, tears were shed and plenty of teachers were contacted to get me where I am today.

I have exceeded the expectations of most people, but the credit for that achievement doesn’t just go to me; it goes to my parents and my younger sister Freya who always urged me to aim high.

In my four years in Maricopa High School, I have had many great experiences. One such experience was the time when I played the piano for the Jekyll and Hyde school musical during my sophomore year. Music is something that everyone loves. Whether it be jazz, pop or rap, the beats that bring us together are just like MHS, that makes us RAMily.

Another such experience was the time when I joined a robotics team that showed what could happen when good minds collaborate. Like any group project, we didn’t know quite where we were going, but we did our best, and we finaled at competition. In my life I’ve seen this theme repeat: You don’t have to have all the steps planned out to get to success; you just have to keep moving.

Throughout my high school career, I also had access to great teachers who paid attention to my needs much more than they were required to while maintaining high academic standards. I was given no excuses, and no reasons to do anything but my best. Counselors like Mr. Veltrie helped me pick classes that were best for my abilities. Without the help and the encouragement of all these people, I would not be here today.

In all honesty, I am so grateful that Maricopa was my high school. Nowhere else will you find such a collection of caring, dedicated teachers and friendly students that welcomed me into what was our four-year home.  To all of you, too many to name who have said hello or answered my email, thank you.

Everyone who is going to receive their diploma right now knows the value of sacrifice. The principle of scarcity of resources is something that is emphasized repeatedly in economics courses. This principle applies to time since time is, after all, a scarce resource. There is only so much of it.

Students who want to get decent enough grades to graduate on time must use their time wisely. It must not be wasted on distractions. All of us who are going to receive our diploma know this to be true. We have had to give up time checking social media, playing video games or whatever else we would rather do in order to study for tests and do assignments. Why do we do this? Because we know that the payoff, a high school diploma, is a major stepping stone to success in life.

To reach this step we all have gone through our own hills and valleys. We have all broken down at one point or another. We have all felt unworthy and incapable. We all know the temptation to give up. I remember telling myself, “It doesn’t matter anyway. At least I’ve gotten this far.” If I had listened to myself, then I wouldn’t be speaking to you now. Through all the obstacles we faced we kept going. I would like to congratulate you all for doing what it takes to be here today.

But not all of us are here. There are some who gave up, who were overwhelmed. Even now, plenty of us are wondering what we will do, and how we will do it.

There is one lesson I have learned in my life: The word “impossible” is not in the dictionary of God. So anyone who is going through difficulties of any kind – students, teachers, parents and relatives, remember this: If you set the bar too low, you’ll never see what you can reach.

Graduating high school is not the end of our journey; it is merely the beginning. It is a milestone to greater achievements in life. I encourage everyone here to continue working hard and achieving. Everything you have accomplished and endured is something that will really help in the real world.

With that, I would like to congratulate the entire class of 2017 once more for their achievement.  I really am thankful to be the co-valedictorian of this graduating class!

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Alfred Abraham is a co-valedictorian of the Maricopa High School Class of 2017. He will attend Arizona State University.

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This speech appears in the June issue of InMaricopa, courtesy of Alfred Abraham.