ACADEMY SECONDARY SCHOOLS COMMENCEMENT 2017
Preparation for Wise Choices
Leann P. Hill
I
would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone at ANC,
including donors who made it possible for my kids to attend this fine
institution. Their time here has put them all in great standing to be their best
selves in life. Gerry and I are eternally grateful. Thank you.
Today I am lucky enough to have been invited to address the parents and
the 2017 graduating class of awesomeness.
Fellow parents: Today we stand together, proud of all of our kids and their
many accomplishments. Good for them, but I want to take a minute to say
good for us, too – the parents!
We took our job seriously. We attended years of events during their
elementary school career: class trips, feasts, plays, concerts. We walked the
halls and oohed and aahed at their art work. We ensured that homework was
done, clothes were clean and backpacks were filled with notebooks, homework
and healthy food. Then, four years ago we watched as our gangly teens entered
high school and with our hearts in our mouths, we let them go.
Although we still felt that of course they needed us at every turn, we stood
back, knowing that we had given them roots and trusting that it was time for
them to spread their wings. Knowing that only by practicing independence
could they gain it. We might still have been wringing our hands in worry about
what lay ahead for them but we stopped micro-managing them and guess
what? We watched as our offspring
took the baton we had handed them
and soared!
It wasn’t always easy watching
them navigate life and its challenges,
but as hard as it was to pull back
and let them practice for college
and adulthood, we did it. And they
did it! Look before you and see this
bunch of well-adjusted, capable and
self-assured human beings and give
It’s a powerful position
you will be in, when
you know that you
are making decisions
that will affect the
rest of your life.
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