On June 4th, I graduated from high school! I will never have to go back there for school early in the morning ever again! The last few weeks were a little bit crazy, because I was ranked in the top three so I had to write a speech. It took me
forever to write my speech because I really had no idea what I wanted to say. So of course, I waited until the last minute and still didn't have my speech in on time. Oh well, I had it in soon enough. Eventually I ended up writing about Evan, how brand new he was, and what I hoped for both him, myself, and the class of 2011 throughout our lives. A little cheesy, maybe, but it was my speech :).
I ended up as the valedictorian for my high school out of roughly 450 seniors. I was pretty excited, and I was even more excited to speak at graduation. Now, I know nobody really cares and 99% of the people are not even paying attention anyways (In case you were wondering, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Rose, and a few good friends made up the other 1% that was listening). However, it was still nice to have a little recognition for my hard work! I do not get nervous speaking in front of a lot of people, so I thought the speech went very well! Another governor's school girl, also named Meghan, was the salutatorian. She gave a really good speech as well using a soccer game as a metaphor for our lives.
Needless to say, I am SO glad to be finished with the last four years that have consumed a great deal of my life. I never was one that really enjoyed high school for any reason, so I couldn't wait to be finished! I am excited to go on to college, and maybe medical school--who knows. It will definitely be interesting to see where I will be in the next ten or fifteen years. I could still be in school, or be done with a family of my own. Crazy!
After graduation, mom had a little party at our house. She was awesome, and so was Rose who helped her a TON. And my Aunt Amy--the best. She made a beautiful cake that tasted
sooo good and looked even better (if that's possible!). I have some really great family and friends that have supported me for the last 12 years of school. They are awesome!
Cap and Gown--and cords. I had a gold cord for having a high GPA, and the black, gold, and red cord for National German Honors Society. The white stole was for National Honors Society. Also the gold tassel was for honors as well.
This was me giving my speech :)
Accepting my diploma--so happy to be DONE!
I had to stand at the bottom of the stairs where everyone exited after getting their diplomas in order to congratulate them and help hand out flowers. This is my really good friend Amanda and me :)
(Almost) All of the Massaponax Governors School kids! We were missing two--Lenzie and Kent (he didn't walk).
Meghan (Salutatorian) and me. Her medal had an "S" and mine had a "V" and they were very neat!
Me and Amanda! She is off to Randolph College for dance. She is an amazing dancer!
Ann and me--we've known each other since sixth grade band class and have had so many classes together over the last seven years! She is off to UVA for engineering or computers!
Me and Rose. She is so awesome! Thanks for coming all the way from Colorado!
Me and Dad--he was actually salutatorian when he graduated from high school. Pretty neat. He kept his speech that he gave at his graduation. It was a little weird, but very cool that he still has it!
Mom, me, and Dad. I have two seriously awesome parents. After my speech, our principal thanked them for providing job security :)
Me and Katelyn! One of my closest friends! She is going to start at Germanna in the fall and wants to become a teacher! She will be great!
My medals--the first one is for Valedictorian, the second one is for having a 4.5 GPA or above (my final GPA was a 4.936), and the last medal is for being a Commonwealth Governor's School student!
Grandma, me, and Grandpa! They are two of the BEST grandparents!
The little boys and me! It's funny to think that Evan will not graduate until the year 2029. Wow. Mom and Dad still have 18 years of schooling ahead of them!
Aunt Amy made the awesome cake and cupcakes for my party! It tasted SOO delicious and looked so cute! I am so grateful for all the work she put into that cake! She is the BEST!
Gray with all of his little buddies at the party!
April got me a laptop case for school next year! Seriously the cutest pattern! Man, do we all love April so much. She is one of the most giving and selfless people you will ever meet!
Zee, Me, and Aman. I have been babysitting Aman since he was almost three. Man is this family one of the best families we know!
Ryan also graduated preschool this year. April came to his graduation and gave him a little present as well. Man is he excited to be headed off to Kindergarten in the fall! Let's just hope he stays excited about school for a long while!
This was on Tuesday the first night we went over to paint! When the kids were still there, we had to play around before we did anything! Those little two kids just LOVE Gray, and he is so cute with them! Gray will definitely be a good Dad.
The love is evident right here. See that little blur? That's Jocelyn and she loves beating up on Gray and chasing him around, and he plays right along with her!
Little Mr. Landon and me :) Looking as good as ever in my painting gear!
The second day (Wednesday), Derek and I went over in the afternoon in order to knock a lot more out! We finished up the biggest room in the house!
John bought us some Chipotle (so nice!!), and Leslie brought over the kids for family dinner. They had taco bell :) Andrew played around with Gray, of course!
Paint in the hair and paint on the face! With cute Jocelyn eating our dinner!
While their house was all packed up and in transit to Germany and storage, the Shields stayed with us for three nights before venturing off to Oregon. Andrew and I cutting brownies for dessert! Yum!
Me, Gray, Andrew, and Derek. The three older ones did a lot of painting!
