Written by Tito Babatunde, Valedictorian of the Class of 2015:

Good evening ladies, gentlemen, boys, and girls.

My name is Tito Babatunde and I am from Lagos, Nigeria. I remember when I first stepped on American soil. My parents told me that we would be living in Houston for a while because of their work and I was excited because I would get to start afresh but I was also scared because I would be residing in an unfamiliar setting. Although I had come here for vacation and was born here, everything still seemed different to me. Adaptation became my new best friend. I learned that in order to become comfortable I had to become flexible. Soon life was at its best. After a while, my parents told me that we would be moving back to Nigeria. I was excited because I thought this transition would be a breeze. Never have I been so incorrect. This transition taught me how horrible I was at making friends. On the first day of my new school I learned that apparently no one likes the girl who answers all the questions in math class. It took a couple of years to adapt and with those years I acquired an optimistic perspective. No matter how hard I believe life is hitting me, people are being hit harder. When I became comfortable, my mom brought up boarding school and that is how I ended up here at Brook Hill for my last two years of high school.

Looking back, I never thought I would be able to receive such a distinguished honor. If someone had told me I’d be standing here, giving a speech as a valedictorian, I would have laughed at what I thought to be a ridiculous statement. But here I am, by God’s grace, through sacrifice and family.

Senior year has been a series of journeys. A journey to the top of the mountain in Taos which taught us all perseverance, and a journey to graduation which has taught most of us that hard work pays off. We’ve all achieved something great. Like passing Anatomy and Physiology or even Calculus. We’ve all failed at something. Like our first horrible attempt at pranking the school. And we’ve all experienced tragedy which has fortified our bond, making us closer than we were at the start of the year.

We’ve come a long way since August. For some of us this year has been the slowest and for others, this year has been the fastest. But we’ve done it, we’re finally through with high school. We’re finally through with waking up early in the morning to take U.S History A block. We’re finally done with taking classes that do not particularly appeal to us. We’ve stood strong throughout the trials and tribulations. We’ve laughed together and we’ve cried together. We will forever be a family. One day we will look back and just smile.

Graduation for us, seniors, is the start of a new chapter in life. We will all go on to College to study medicine, engineering, international relations, elementary education, and so on. We will all part ways and some friendships will sadly disintegrate. What will be left as a reminder of the memories made will be the pictures on the walls in our homes. Soon those pictures will become wrinkled and memories will become foggy. All of this is inevitable so all we can do is cherish. Cherish what you have now because I’m sure we all know of death’s neglect to notify. You never know what you have till it’s gone. So hold onto what you have for as long as you can till you know it’s time to let go.

Life is difficult. As we seniors have learned from Bible class, life comes in undulations. Sometimes we may feel like we are constantly placed in unfavorable situations and make a permanent home in the troughs. All we need to remember is that God gives us life as a test. We have to compel ourselves to remember that the bad things in life are never permanent and it is rewarding to have an optimistic perspective.

One last thing to never forget is to give thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5: 18 says, “…in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” We should always be thankful because we never truly know the depth of the sacrifice made for us. So on behalf of the seniors, I would like to thank our parents for being patient, forgiving, loving, and having sacrificial hearts. We truly would not be here if not for our parents. I would also like to thank our teachers for putting up with us and giving us many chances to make up late work. You are truly devoted and hardworking. Your works will be rewarded. Thank you all because we would not have made it without you. And thank you seniors for accommodating me. Because of you all, I can now call Brook Hill my home away from home.