A Time of New Beginning and Reflection - written to the 2012 graduates of Ashford High School and now to YOU

 This is a time of new beginnings and reflection for all of us.

      We now have the chance to look back at how we got here, the mistakes we made, the influences that shaped our lives, and who we've become; thoughts, habits, standards, beliefs, character, and all.  But in our reflection we should not look for a scapegoat or a party to blame for our downfalls. Instead we should take responsibility for what we all have done.  Though other parties played a role in our resolution to make the mistakes we've made, they are still our own.
      We have now been given an opportunity to decide our future and the influences we are exposed to.  Shaping the future is not just the career chosen but also people, media, education, political influences, and religious beliefs chosen as well.  We are the adults now.  Whether we are aware of it or not, we we are a model of society and an example of how to live for the generation to come.  The next generation will look at us all for answers and influence, and it may not be with a single spoken word. whether we carry on a family name or not, our lineage will live on though those we come in contact with.
      This is our time to reflect and plan the face we will give to our world.  Each and every one of us has a vote.  Our future is not our own, though we call it such.
     We are unaware of the untouched shores the ripples we produce will hit.  How the waves will touch the beaches is a direct consequence of how the ripples of all the stones thrown into the water coincide.  Our stones will influence more land than those which have already sunk to the ocean's floor.  With every new stone, the water rises.  We cannot change the influence of past stones, but our influence will cover their mistakes.