Olivia Ham is the Kennedale High School Class of 2019 Valedictorian. Olivia is the daughter of Shawn and Debra Ham. She will be attending the University of Texas in Austin in the fall where she plans to major in Computer Science. {{more: continue …}}?
Olivia will
receive the Texas Highest Ranking Graduate Award, whereas she will receive free
tuition for the first two college semesters following high school graduation.
Olivia was a member of the of the 2019 KHS Science and Computer Science teams, both which placed in the top 3 at the UIL State Academic Meet. She also won several awards as cast member of the Kennedale High School UIL One Act Play entre in 2018 and 2019.
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The following is her address to the Class of 2019 ?
Wildcats … From here and forever more that title should be stamped on your soul with pride. If you go to college and have another mascot, that?s okay, but there will always be that bit of a wildcat inside of you, whether you like it or not actually.?
To the Class of 2019 ???East High is a place where teachers encouraged us to break the status quo and define ourselves as we choose.? Okay, obviously these aren?t my words, but Troy Bolton was onto something in his speech. High school has been a time for learning for us, not just in the classroom, but in ourselves as well. I think I can confidently say that just about everyone in this room would cringe at their junior high selves. We have grown and matured into wonderful young men and women. From here on out, we go out into the real world. Some of us will start jobs very soon and contribute to the work force, some of us will learn a trade that can carry us for the rest of our lives, and some of us will go to more school, though it will be different. We will learn about what we are interested in and what we want to pursue as a career. Regardless, all of us will learn how to function on our own and become beneficial members of society.
Memories ??As we look forward into the rest of our lives, sometimes it?s nice to take a step back and remember where we came from. As the Class of 2019, we survived through
- the Silly Band phase and consequent ban
- the intensive flash mob at Arthur the year they chose to include the students (I know some of y?all still remember the dance)
- our first musicals, plays, concerts, and sporting events
- the culture shock of going to the high school and somehow learning how to find our places
- being placed once again under the leadership of our wonderful junior high principal
- the bullhorn incident and the auction that followed
- and my personal favorite, the student who, approximately two years ago, managed to outwit the Wikipedia police and change the motto of our school on Wiki from ?Where everybody is somebody? to ?Where everybody is Cagle? as it remains to this day. Let this be a lesson to those graduating today (and everyone else for that matter), NEVER trust Wikipedia, kids.
Note: This is the written version of the speech given at graduation on May 26, 2019.?
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