Madam Speaker, last month I had the privilege of giving the commencement address to Escambia County High School's Class of 2009. My friend, Tray Smith of Atmore, the class salutatorian, also had the opportunity to address his fellow…
Madam Speaker, last month I had the privilege of giving the commencement address to Escambia County High School's Class of 2009. My friend, Tray Smith of Atmore, the class salutatorian, also had the opportunity to address his fellow classmates. In just 18 years, Tray has already compiled an impressive list of accomplishments. In 2008, he served as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., and earlier this year, he was named Atmore's 2008 ``Citizen of the Year.''
I rise today to ask that his address be entered into the Congressional Record for I believe it to be one of the finest and most inspiring addresses given by a high school student that I have ever heard:
Leaving our Children a Better Country Than We Inherit
(By Tray Smith)
Thirty-five years ago, my father graduated from ECHS. Then,
the country was shaken by the scandal of Watergate and the
Vietnam War. Every year since, a different group of faces has
arrived here during its own unique period in our history.
Over time, America and the world have greatly changed. So
now, we, the Class of 2009, come to graduate under different
circumstances than those that faced our parents. Yet, the
challenges that face us are just as great as those that faced
them. And just as our moms and dads responded to the problems
facing our nation by spreading freedom to every continent and
the Internet to almost every home, we will meet our own
challenges. For we know as our parents knew, that our
greatest responsibility as Americans is to leave our children
a better country than the one we are about to inherit.
Graduation means we are ready to meet this task--not
because we know everything we will ever need to learn, but
because we know how to learn anything we will ever need to
find out.
I have the honor of commemorating this moment as the
salutatorian of a class that has many talented students. And
it is a special honor to stand before Joy Marshall, our
valedictorian and my good friend. Joy, I am so proud for you,
I will miss you, and I know this school will miss you, as
well.
Congressman Bonner, Mr. Means, parents, teachers, friends,
guests, and members of the community; thank you all for being
here to join with us in this great moment in our lives. And
on behalf of the entire Class of 2009, I extend a sincere
thanks to you all, especially our parents and grandparents,
for the contributions you have made to make this moment
possible.
I want to specifically thank Congressman Bonner for making
this event a priority. Congressman, the fact you are here
signifies your strong commitment to our young people, and our
future. While in Congress, you have done many great things
for this district. On a personal basis, though, I am most
appreciative for the life changing doors you have opened for
me, a young kid from Atmore. I can't imagine my high school
years without the experiences I had working in Washington as
your page. And the reason my class wanted you to come speak
tonight is because, as we look forward to the future, there
is no better person for us to emulate. Again, thank you.
Even though we graduate tonight, we will still depend on
many of you in this room. I am sure I will not be the only
member of the Class of 2009 to call Mom every time I have to
do laundry in college. I still have no clue how to work the
machines. Okay, I might be alone on that one. But I want our
parents and mentors to know we will always be open to your
advice and appreciate your insight.
Mom and Dad, Nee Nee and Paw Paw, Aunts and Uncles, Mrs.
Bonnie and Mrs. West, other family members and friends, I
love you all and I am so thankful for the role you have
played in my life. And I know for all of my 132 fellow
graduates, there are an equal number of people who share in
the credit for this day, and who will share in the credit for
the successes that come in the future.
When Mom asked me to describe my first day at ECHS years
ago, I said it was like walking through the mall. But now,
after having spent several years with classmates in school,
at events, and serving our extracurricular responsibilities,
the faces that
were once like strangers in the mall to me are now the
familiar faces of friends I pass daily in the hallway.
They are the faces of Nakeidra Brown and Brittney Martin
arguing with Gordon Nichols and me in Algebra. They are the
many happy faces of Lashae Powers defending me in SGA
meetings. They are the ever-frustrated faces of Katie Coon,
adamantly insisting that she and I are not related. And they
are the almost indistinguishable, but always smiling, faces
of the Forney twins.
And these faces will remain familiar long after this
commencement exercise is over. Because the bonds that exist
between us are not only the bonds of classmates, they are the
bonds of friends, and they will endure.
They will endure because they have been forged in a place
where everyone looks out for their neighbors, in a town that
respects traditional values, by people who cherish family and
friendship. Growing up in Atmore, we may not have had easy
access to Wal Mart or Starbucks, but we have had each other.
That, my friends, has made all the difference.
From this moment, we will all go down different paths: some
of us will go on to college, others will enter the workforce,
and some will start families. Yet, as graduates, we are now
all adults in the world's greatest and most democratic
country. As such, we have both an opportunity to make a
difference and a responsibility to make a contribution.
Regardless of where we end up, there will be fatherless
children in need of mentors and hungry people in need of
food. These needs belong not just to individuals, but to the
entire nation. And as President John Fitzgerald Kennedy once
said, by lending a helping hand to those people, we serve not
only our fellow countrymen, but also our country.
Our record at ECHS gives me faith in our ability to live up
to that standard of service. In our four years here, we have
had three principles and five assistant principals. In these
periods of transition, students have had to step forward and
carry the mantle of leadership. I am confident that we leave
behind a dedicated team with Mr. Means, Mrs. Shuford, and Mr.
Lanier, but I am also proud to say future students at this
school will benefit from what the Class of 2009 accomplished,
from saving the newspaper to starting the scholars' bowl team
to reinvigorating our athletic programs.
However, the difficult tasks that come with significant
roles in society are much more consequential and much more
trying. Thankfully, some of our classmates are already rising
nobly to those challenges. Tonight, I want to ask Hierry
Carter, Cortina James, Thomas Johnson, and Wade Johnson to
stand.
As the rest of us enjoy our newfound freedom as graduates,
these members of the Class of 2009 have chosen to serve as
the guardians of that freedom in perhaps distant and dark
corners of the world. They have chosen to join the United
States Military. They deserve our respect, our admiration,
and our applause. Thank you.
As we go forward, let us remember with gratitude these
brave individuals. Let their willingness to sacrifice
selflessly for a cause greater than themselves inspire us
all. And let us all remember that God put us in this place in
history, at this moment in time, because He trusted no other
generation with the charges that are already confronting us.
And it is in God's glory that we must heed the call of duty
to defend our freedoms, preserve our values, and maintain our
way of life. So that when we are all long gone and the
history of this generation is written, it can be said that
the graduates of the ECHS Class of 2009 were men and women of
integrity, who did not give into the false choices and
pretexts that so often corrupt our way of thinking, bow to
the forces of mediocrity that so often restrain our true
potential, or enslave ourselves to the prejudices and
stereotypes that have for years crippled our society.
Let it be said that we, the Class of 2009, never forgot the
lessons learned growing up here, in Atmore. That we, the
Class of 2009, never forgot the people--moms and dads,
teachers and administrators, pastors and friends and
grandparents--who raised us. That we never forgot the
importance of service or the significance of being Americans.
That we never forgot our purpose, and worked tirelessly to
make sure our purpose was fulfilled. Thank you. May God bless
you and may God bless this honorable class.