2024 Saugus High School graduation – The Class President’s Address

By Jessica Bremberg

Good evening and congratulations to all my fellow classmates, we made it!

On behalf of the Class of 2024 I want to thank all of our teachers, guidance counselors, administration, and the building staff for all they have done for us throughout our years here. I want to thank my classmates for allowing me to be your Class President all these years, it has been an honor to do this for you all.

After today you will no longer have to hear me begging you all to participate in our events, to pay your class dues, or to help us fundraise. I’m done sending emails that were probably never opened, but please check your emails in your future.

Running this class has been a lot of work, however writing this speech has allowed me to look back and realize all the support and help I’ve gotten from my family, friends, and our advisors. I especially never would have been able to do any of this without my vice president, who doubles as my teammate, co-captain, coworker, classmate for another four years, and also my friend, Madi Femino. Madi I can’t thank you enough for helping me all these years. I most importantly want to thank my mom and dad for always supporting me and wanting to help me with anything I needed. Special thank yous to Dunkin’ Donuts, and Justin for always being by my side. Alright I’m done with all the thank yous now.

Today we are together for one final gathering to celebrate all our accomplishments and a tribute to all of the years of hard work we have put into walking across this stage. Twelve years of Saugus public schools will become such a small part of our lives, yet right now it is all we have ever known. After today there are no more classes or halls forcing us to be together, your future is entirely in your own hands now. Whether your next step is furthering your education in college, going into the workforce, enlisting in the military, or you’re still figuring it out, I know that you all can accomplish anything you put your minds to.

In these short four years at Saugus High, we’ve learned plenty of lessons, made friends, and created countless memories. These memories are now all we have left from our time at Saugus High. Of all the lessons we’ve learned, most importantly Senior year makes you appreciate what you have. We take so many things in our lives for granted without realizing until they’re gone. High school is a perfect example of this and everything we just simply overlook or even complain about. After 12 years we have become accustomed to all the little things that never seemed worth our time to think twice about. Your perspective changes when you realize that soon this will all be over, and we begin to appreciate all the little “high school moments” we’ve been able to experience. In our final months, we finally began to slow down and try to appreciate more of the little things, like all the interactions with each other in the halls, the simple passing “hi’s, conversations with our favorite teachers, gym class games, and school lunch with our friends.

Even with this appreciation for what would soon be gone, still I’d find us talking about all the things we “couldn’t wait” for. We couldn’t wait for that class to be over, couldn’t wait for the weekend, couldn’t wait for graduation, and we couldn’t wait for the freedom we held in our future. While this excitement and motivation for the future seems great, why is it that we can’t wait for this current moment to be over? I mean I can understand a little wanting a boring class to go by just a little quicker or a draining day to end, but wishing the time away is easy, what’s hard is finding something good at any time. What you all may or may not know about me is that I’m pretty optimistic in most situations.

The glass of water, it’s half full; raining outside, our cars are getting washed; math test tomorrow, we won’t have to do a new lesson today in class. While this positive outlook does get on my friends’ nerves sometimes, there is no harm in finding something good. Like I said, wishing time away is easy, what’s hard is slowing down and finding the positive.

You only get to live this moment once, so try and appreciate it for all it is before all you’re left with is a memory. As hard as we try to hold on to our memories, they eventually will fade and someday you’ll forget all about your sophomore year gym class and those eventful English classes. The only thing we can do is live in the moment, worry a little less about what was and what will be. Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.” These four years flew by right in front of our eyes and how often did we take the time to stop and look around? There is no way to turn back time, but we still have days ahead of us with plenty of opportunities to slow down and look around. Today officially marks the end of this chapter in our lives, but a new one is only beginning. The future is not something you wait for, it’s something you create, so create the future you want and don’t let anything stand in your way.

To the Class of 2024, I am extremely proud of everything we’ve accomplished here. You should be proud of yourselves for reaching this milestone and know that your hard work has paid off. You have bright futures ahead. When you’re all big shots in the world, remember that you were first big shots for a little while at Saugus High.

Like I said about memories fading, in a few weeks you probably won’t remember my speech, but if I can ask you to remember one thing it’s to slow down once in a while and appreciate what you have before it’s gone. Thank you