Good Morning and welcome! It is my honor to welcome family, friends, faculty, and most importantly, the Millard North graduating class of 2024 to the penultimate conclusion of our highschool careers!

My name is L.C. Syslo and I stand here before you all not as a classmate, friend, student, or teammate, but as a graduate of Millard North High School

The past 4 years have flown by in a blink of an eye, leading all of us here to this momentous occasion. The daily assignments getting turned in just before they’re due, the long hours studying on weekends, and for a lot of us, the use of chatGPT. From trying to figure out where our classes are as freshmen to walking into Baxter Arena for our graduation as seniors, it makes these years feel surreal. 

The time you spent here at Millard North has shaped you to become the people you are today, every new experience has introduced you to a new side of yourself that each of you have grown into. You have embraced the personal challenges you all have dealt with, faced adversity head-on, and even conquered an international pandemic.

As I have prepared this speech: I was  plagued with a question: How can I represent all Millard North Graduates? The answer was one that I couldn’t wrap my head around, taking me weeks to even put pen to paper. It was only when a discussion with my classmates in English Class made me realize the answer. I can’t. I cannot represent every individual I see in this crowd here today. Everyone of you has had a unique and adventurous journey through highschool that one speech alone cannot capture. Your achievements and accomplishments are that of incredible magnitude and importance, feats exclusive to each individual. Everyone here has a remarkable story that has prepared them to unlock their full potential and to be trailblazers in this next stage of life. 

To say I’m proud to stand before you all today is an understatement, because anyone can give a speech about how amazing the graduating class is, how defining these years are for everyone, and complain about the parking lot traffic. I’m proud BECAUSE anyone of you in this crowd can give a speech like this, I’m proud that all my fellow classmates and now graduates are so capable of rising to an occasion like this and delivering on a promise: a promise of excellence. 

As we take our next steps into this crazy thing called life, I implore you all to carry on the Mustang tradition of curiosity, empathy, and compassion. The fire within you all won’t fade, and the ambitions won’t falter. Not everyone who works hard is rewarded, but all who have succeeded have worked hard, and by all of you being here today, it’s evident that you have worked hard and success is imminent. 

So to the Millard North graduating class of 2024, may your futures be bright, your paths walked with purpose, and lives lived meaningfully!

Thank you all, and ROLL STANGS!