THANK YOU, SPXI : A Thanksgiving Speech

A pre-graduation speech

Be thankful for the benefits you received, but moreover, be thankful for the sufferings you experienced. Here is a simple question for all of you, “Why do people give their thanks?” Of course, most of us give our thanks when somebody did something for the benefit of us. That is the most basic answer for this question. However, I would like to change that basic answer of yours into a more meaningful one because if I would answer the same question, my answer would be, “I will give my thanks when somebody did something to me, either I see it as beneficial or not.”

Graduates, I have been once like you. Believe it or not, I really do. Of course, you all see me now as a successful accountant having a happy and prosperous life but I will tell this to all of you, I have once felt what you all are feeling today for this school. I also felt the happiness of having good teachers, kind staffs, lots of friends, good experiences, and having this so-called “high school life”. But I believe all of you here also feel some anger. I also did, when I was in that place as yours, I felt really angry due to teachers’ bad perceptions about me, lack of teaching but superb giving of quizzes, lack of considerations, and of course, the teachers’ ability to make us busy in just one snap of their fingers. Surprised, right? I also felt the same feeling as yours, graduates. But graduates, those negative sides of this school may not be “negative” at all. You can make it as a positive side if only you can change your perceptions of them. How did I do that? I simply think of those “negative” factors as guides. Guides that will tell us what we should do and will tell us what we should not do. For example, if we experienced some punishment due to their lack of considerations, we must make it as a guide for the future so that we may not be able to do the same thing that they did to us. That’s why students, all of our experiences in this school are worthy of our thanks. We should give our thanks to them as they let us experienced those positive and semi-positive sides of this school.

A sad memory isn’t always a bad one and a happy memory isn’t always a good one. It is and it will always be based on our perception of things. I am a living evidence that those bad experiences are beneficial and I am here to tell you that those experiences are worthy of our thanks. So graduates, stop the hate and start the thanks.