Eileen Yeo

Valedictorian Speech

Do any of you have random dreams at night that is irrelevant to everything and

doesn't seem to mean anything, then wake up and wonder if there was a deeper

meaning to it? I have. I woke up this morning after having a dream that included

native americans and forests and reality. I was in the forest and I got lost, then...[pause]

stuff happens. Yes. Stuff just happens. So then, being me, I wondered if there wasn't a

deeper, more significant meaning to this dream other than to make me think about

deep meanings about it. And I did find something.

You see, a lot of things in life seems random, irrelevant, unimportant, easy to

ignore. Like that book you just read. Or that stray cat in the pavement. Or a certain

english assignment. But my point is, life is usually random. You never know what is

waiting for you around the corner. According to the movie “The Knowing”, there are

two types of theories about the universe – One is where people believe that everything

on this planet has a purpose, and then there is the group where people believes that

everything in this world just happens. Like I said, stuff happens.

Personally, I believe that the second theory is much more likely and is also much

more optimistic than the first. Yes, it might be nice to know that everything is already

all planned out for you, it's true, but do you really want to live a life where all the

decisions have already been made for you? Think about it. I'm sure that all of you,

being third cultural kids in an international school, have had a taste of what it's like to

leave your friends or have friends leave you because of your parents' jobs. Doesn't that

make you want to settle down somewhere, make friends and never leave again? That's

why the other theory would be much more appealing to you than to other people,

because you know that you have power and control over your own life, and you can

decide what you do and what happens to you in the future.

So even though this is a day of endings, of sadness and separation, and everyone

will surely miss... most of you, it is also a day where you are finally free from this school

and you can finally start to make your own decisions. So on the final note of my

speech, I say, make the right choices. You never know what could happen. Take a

chance and make that leap, and, who knows? You might have just turned your life

around.