Yeah, I gave two speeches at my graduation. Have at it.

To B-PC Schools,

I know this is a homeschool graduation ceremony. Clearly, I’m not walking into a gym wearing a blue graduation gown marching to the beat of pomp and circumstance with 70 other classmates. This ceremony, held in a church, with lots of speeches and special music and a video presentation cries “homeschooled.” But, truth is, I’ve only been homeschooled for two years. 11 substantial years of my education were provided by the Bushnell-prairie city public school. And although I have loved every minute of being homeschooled, deep down in my heart, I’m a public school kid. There would be something terribly wrong if this entire ceremony concluded without any acknowledgment of my public school years. I spent the end of my high school days at home, but I never did quite fit the homeschool stigma. I grew up playing capture the flag, waiting at bus stops, taking field trips to wild life prairie park, eating my lunch in a cafeteria, decorating home-made valentine boxes, saving up money for the penny carnival, dreading the yearly physical fitness test, marching with the band in the homecoming parade, coming up with excuses for why I was late again, engaging teachers in endless conversation to waste class time, and losing sleep over the pressure of the science fair. In these past two years I’ve learned about deaf culture, why it is so incredibly important that I know every detail of the beginnings of American history, and how to extract a DNA strand from an onion -- which is all very fascinating and has surely prepared me for college. But, it must be noted that Mrs. Fuller taught me how sometimes a C makes the K sound and sometimes it makes the S sound. Mrs. Simmons taught me that the short hand on a clock tells what hour it is and the longer hand tells the minute. Mrs. Kramer introduced me to the wonder of the haiku poem. And Mrs. Young taught me how to find the average of a set of numbers. Mrs. Holland first introduced me to the cell. And, Mr. Gilbert taught me of the beauty of Robert Frost and his poetry. Mrs. Harrison taught me of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and Hermes, the messenger god. Ms. Hannam taught me my very first notes on a trumpet. And then there was the lovely Miss Torrence, who taught me how to use an oven and thread a sewing machine! And Mr. Prentice, who taught me things I never needed to know about jigsaws and sanders and drafting. I could go on and on. My years at B-PC were sometimes great and sometimes difficult. I had my complaints, just like everyone else. But when it comes down to it, those schools are a huge part of why I am the person I am. And if nothing else, they taught me social skills like no other. So, even though this is technically a homeschool graduation, it must be understood that the girl who is graduating cherishes every year she spent in public school. I wouldn’t take it back for anything. So here’s to Bushnell. Here’s to watching track meets in the rain and selling over-priced pizzas from a catalog. Thank you, B-PC Schools. Thank you for being a part of me.