Learning to Find Your Passion: The Salutatorian Speech of Keaton Wadzinski
Keaton Wadzinski’s Salutatorian Speech Transcript:
Class of 2013, administration, friends, and family: Hi!
I have worked for and with this school system for the past 13 years. My job has been to
take in information, and process it–to collect dots and occasionally connect them.
take in information, and process it–to collect dots and occasionally connect them.
Even if I didn’t adore every second of my time at school, I have truly loved this
community–the extraordinary friends, the loving and caring family, the inspirational
teachers along the way, the people whom I could not live without–my tribe. Each and
every one of you deserves personalized recognition and thanks.
community–the extraordinary friends, the loving and caring family, the inspirational
teachers along the way, the people whom I could not live without–my tribe. Each and
every one of you deserves personalized recognition and thanks.
I am who I am because of you. So, thank you.
But, the emphasis is on ‘you.’ The system did not produce me. Grades and tests did
not shape me. It was you, this community, and our relationships. We, students, are not
output, the products of an education system; we are travelers on a road, with the footsteps
of our legacy in the past, and a journey into the future ahead.
not shape me. It was you, this community, and our relationships. We, students, are not
output, the products of an education system; we are travelers on a road, with the footsteps
of our legacy in the past, and a journey into the future ahead.
Yet, the problem with our past is that we forget, as you will undoubtedly forget this
