Schools

PCHS Salutatorian Focuses on Making the Most of the Middle

The Port Chester High School class of 2013 graduated on Friday, June 21 at the high school. Salutatorian Astrid Vargas reminds her class how important it is to make the most of the middle. Read her full speech here: 

Good evening. How is everyone doing today? That’s a rhetorical question. We all know the answer. My English teacher said if I didn’t include rhetorical devices she would kill me. Just kidding! 

First and foremost I want to thank the teachers and guidance counselors as we embark on this exciting adventure, our future! Also, merci beaucoup to the many involved in our experiences here at the high school:  Our principal, Dr. Combs, the Board of Education, the staff, the coaches, the nurses, everyone! I want to thank our family foundation- our parents. I want especially to thank the woman and man who nurtured me, reprimanded me, and made me the young lady I am today. Los amo Yolanda y Felipe!

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Let us take a journey to the past. Four years ago, we the class of 2013, were walking these hallways for the first time. Some were confident and classy. Others friendly and gifted.  Then there were the nerdy and stressed-out kids! 

Like everything in life, it got easier; it just took time. Senior year flew by!  Now we’re here. We have shared some amazing experiences the last 12 years.  We came from one of the four elementary schools and met at the middle school. Our elementary school rivalry transformed into our team color rivalry when we played the All Star Games. We stepped up from middle school.

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Now we are at the end of high school and at the beginning of our college or working careers. Some of us may continue our education in graduate school. I hope to go to medical school. We are ready to move on to face new challenges that life will bring us.  But, life doesn’t always follow your plan. You might find yourself somewhere you didn’t expect and maybe even in a dark place, but don’t give up. Have the courage and confidence to keep pursing your goals.

When I began to prepare my remarks for today I was not sure what to say. Sitting in one of my confirmation classes for the United Methodist Church I came across a paragraph that inspired me. I would like to share it with you now.

“We learn our letters and letter sounds in preschool. Then we begin to learn words. We put those words together to form sentences and start to read. Our learning keeps growing and growing. Soon we are studying, reading books, and writing papers - all building on the foundation of the letters we learned years before. But learning does not stop when we graduate from high school or college. We hope to continue learning, growing, and studying each day of our lives; we gain knowledge about what is going on in the world, our careers, or our family life. We are essentially always students.”

This paragraph hit home because I truly believe that no one is ever done learning unless you are dead, then you are done learning.

I would also like to share another quotation as we depart from Port Chester High School and scatter all over the country. In the words of screenwriter Steven Rogers, “Beginnings are usually scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s what’s in the middle that counts. So when you find yourself at the beginning, just give hope a chance to float up. And it will.”

We are at the end of high school and at the beginning of our college or working careers. In the fall when we realize that we are floating in the same ocean but in different boats, remember that hard work equal results, we will always be students of one kind or another, and when faced with a scary start or sad ending, it really is the middle that matters.  


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