Good evening ladies and gentlemen.
Audrey Hepburn said “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow” and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Stear, Mrs Snyman, our teachers and our parents for believing in our “tomorrow”. We started our journey in the Riebeek garden as little grade 4s, unsure of exactly what flowers we’d grow into. Sunny days helped us to grow, rains nourished our souls and some storms nearly ended us yet we've survived with the guidance of our amazing teachers and peers. Our roots have grown deeper as we've laughed, cried, and learnt so much together and tonight we finally get to blossom together.
As I reflect on our journey together, I can’t help but smile. As little grade 4 girls, we always thought the matrics were these mature, young ladies who had their lives all figured out. Now that we’re in matric we’ve realised that we do not in fact have our lives entirely figured out and we’d do anything to go back to the days where our biggest problem was deciding whether to wear a Barbie or Bratz t-shirt for R2 civvies days.
I suppose we all have to grow up eventually though. I remember making those little grass head projects in grade 5 and mine just wouldn’t grow. Naturally I became very worried because everyone else’s grass heads had beautiful green hair and there mine stood…balder than ever. After a few more weeks, my grass finally grew and it taught me a valuable lesson; It doesn’t matter whether you’re an early or late bloomer, as long as you make sure you bloom to your full potential. My only wish is for all of us to bloom to our full potential some day, knowing that our roots are deep and strong.
On behalf of all the matrics, I would like to thank Mrs Stear, Mrs Snyman, Mrs Bean, the dance committee, and all the other teachers involved for going the extra mile to make this special night possible. We are truly grateful for all your hard work and sacrifices. I would also like to thank all our teachers for their contributions to our growth and success over the past 8 years. The lessons you’ve taught are invaluable.
I never thought I’d be the one delivering this speech tonight, but I am so honoured to be able to stand here and say “We made it!”. It brings me so much joy to be a part of the class of 2019’s diverse garden. Miranda Kerr once said, “A rose can never be a sunflower, and a sunflower can never be a rose. All flowers are beautiful in their own way, and that’s like women too”. So to all my beautiful ladies, may you be bright, sunny and positive, spread seeds of happiness, rise, shine and hold your head high in everything you do.