By PAIGE MILLER
Class of 2025 Salutatorian
Good morning faculty, family, friends, community and my fellow graduates.
I am Paige Miller and it is an honor to stand before you today as the salutatorian of the Class of 2025.
Today we stand on the edge of a new chapter — a milestone that seemed so far away, not long ago. Yet, here we are, ready to turn the page and begin new journeys.
Over the past four years we have filled this chapter with laughter, hallway hellos, hard work, late nights, and memories that will last a lifetime.
Right now, we’re in the in-between — between who we were and who we’re going to be. Walking the line between reckless and responsible, underestimated and overexpectated.
We’ve done enough to think we know it all, but we’re smart enough to know we don’t. We’re young enough to think we’ll live forever, but old enough to know we won’t.
Over the years we have learned that life doesn’t always go as planned. You win some, you lose some. It ain’t always home runs. And that’s just the way life plays.
But we kept showing up, dug a little deeper when we thought we couldn’t dig anymore, and didn’t quit until the job was done; that is what got us here today.
We’ve always dreamt of bigger things outside of this small town — but we never thought the day we’d leave would ever roll around. The time has come to say goodbye to the halls we’ve known so well and the classrooms that shaped us.
What they didn’t teach us in these classrooms or on those sidelines is moving on. Sometimes following your heart means leaving it all behind. Some of us will stay. Some will leave. But no matter where we go, a part of us will always be half of our hometown.
We’re undefined. We’re just beginning. The pen is in our hands — and the ending? Unplanned.
No one else can feel this moment for you. No one else can speak the words on your lips. Only you can let it in. Only you can write your story.
Life is a dance, you learn as you go; but remember to work hard, stay humble and make time for those that matter most!
This is where one chapter ends and the next begins. Don’t be afraid of the blank page in front of you.
Be excited. Be bold. Be real.
We made it — together.
And the rest is still unwritten.
Thank you!
