Brutally Honest Valedictorian Regrets Being Top of the Class

good evening on behalf of the senior class i would like to thank all the people who make the kings academy excellent to the board of governors for the wisdom you bring the prayers that you pray and the vision you lay out for tka we thank you the administration for the godly oversight you bring to the school and for making the tough calls when needed we thank you to the faculty who give your all each and every day laboring to provide us with a tremendous education and pushing us to do our best even on the days

that we don't want to learn all the while taking the extra time to build relationships with us that for some will last a lifetime we thank you to the staff who work tirelessly coordinating our lives and our events while supporting us and the faculty we thank you to the kings academy maintenance department who keep our campus running efficiently and create a beautiful place for us to come and learn every day we thank you to each member of each family represented in the senior class whose support sacrifice and dedication has not been overlooked we thank you

especially the parents and the guardians who have paid for and who have supported us throughout our education we thank you and we love you i stand before you tonight as the 2019 valedictorian this time last year i found out that i was in the running for this title it was then that i decided i wanted it so i worked hard for it i sacrificed for it and yes i stressed for it and i got it and at our senior awards ceremony it felt so good when i heard my name announced with this title that's so

good for about 15 seconds yeah 15 seconds of my heart racing and my adrenaline pumping 15 seconds so yeah i won 15 seconds of being at the top of the pile of all my accomplishments and it felt euphoric but there must come a 16th second and on that 16th second sat down on my seat i looked at my silver stole that says valedictorian and i thought that's it what just happened why why am i not feeling anything else to be honest i don't even know what i was expecting a parade of balloons to drop or

maybe i was hoping that all of my problems would fade away in comparison to this amazing achievement but none of that happened not even in my heart i felt nothing i was shocked this was a huge problem for me and i needed to figure out why so here was my thought process working hard is good it is in fact biblical but it should not be done for the sole purpose of a goal sake at the expense of relationship with others looking back on this year i realized that the stress of this year for this goal

in a five-minute speech was paid for with the lack of attending to relationships in my life a lesson learned and self-reflection accomplished now i would like you my fellow classmates to do some self-reflecting i would like you to take a moment to fill in a different thing that you strive for and you focused on something that you thought was the end-all be-all perhaps it was sports perhaps it was fine arts academics getting into a particular school an unhealthy social life social media or video games friends we are about to launch into life and we haven't

messed anything up yet now think instead of academics taking your focus off your important relationships it was your career you chose over your spouse instead of sports it's money that you pursue at the detriment of your children instead of just the instagram-worthy picture it's striving to be famous at the expense of time with your friends because now you're too self-involved i'm well aware that this is kind of a downer speech but i don't care because a lesson learned should be a lesson shared now i'm glad that i have only made this mistake of striving for

something that is in the light of eternity not important for just one year i can't imagine if i had learned this at 50 or at the end of my life here's the lesson have no regrets in the 16th second nothing is more important than your healthy relationships nothing not your goals not your successes and here's why relationships are where we get to influence impact and change people's lives your life cannot be meaningful without them and we are put on this earth by our creator and we all have a purpose to advance god's kingdom that all

may be saved now how we all go about that that's what's different it's different in what college we choose who we marry and what career we choose it's different in the triumphs and tragedies that come upon us but in all those things new relationships are being formed as you live your life on this earth there is no greater good than you can do for a person than to love them so much that you point them to jesus christ but first he should be your first relationship that you cannot neglect and i want you to know

i have been here at tka for 14 years and i love this school and i love all of you my classmates and tonight i am imploring you if you have not begun that personal relationship with jesus christ just do it there is no better way to start something new and close and chapter of your life than with him if he is your lord and savior then make sure you care for that relationship above all others and after that prioritize what is important in your life and never never lose focus of your important relationships so be

generous with your time and money and a lot of relational issues will be resolved and by the way it's not too late to mend fractured relationships any friends you haven't spoken to in a while because of your pride parents whom you disrespected and teachers who you never thanked just do it humble yourself start a conversation have no regrets in the 16th second in conclusion this has been one of the hundreds of life lessons i have learned at the kings academy and that has been more valuable than academics so thank you to all who have taken

the time to teach each of us our lessons and once again thank you to our parents who have been the main source of our lesson learning we did it you and us and we love you for your sacrifice to put us at kings and for putting up with our attitudes along the way thank you for sticking with us when we receive our diploma tonight just know we all have earned it [Applause] you