Jacob Horowitz Graduation Speech

Jacob Horowitz – Graduation Address – June 9, 2021

I don’t remember joining this school, but I remember what I was like. I was the little shy kid, you know, the one at the back of the class, not talking much, quietly eating my PB and J. I was like that for most of the year, and because of that, I didn’t fully appreciate this school.  However, when I started making friends, I really started having more fun here.

So, as the years went on and as I got older, I got less quiet, and I started making more friends, having more fun, more hangouts, more sleepovers, more laughs, and of course, more memories. 

Next, the year rolled around that everyone had trouble with. 5th grade. However, due to the fact that I had friends, I was able to avoid the tough cliques and push through frustrating teachers with them, by either emotional help or simply talking. We persevered through that year, together. But, in 6th grade, some of them left the school, which made me a bit bummed at first, but I soon started making friends with the new kids that year, because they also didn’t really have any friends at first. This, while 6th grade also had cliques, I had closer friends, and they supported me so much in so many ways. So, by the middle of 7th grade, we were all super close, hanging out, having sleepovers, going crazy over poker games... and then... disaster struck. The Coronavirus.

As we all went home for months, even though we were split apart into our little Zoom boxes, we came together as a class, whole. Once the lockdown started, instead of shutting off, and disengaging, the whole class jelled together and cliques almost immediately broke down. This trend continued well into Eighth grade, and there still aren’t cliques. People will talk about how in eighth grade the Isreal trip pulls everyone together into one happy family. So, even though we didn’t get to go to Israel, we still ended up as close as ever anyway because of the lockdown. 

Finally, I’m gonna do the thing that everyone else does. I’m gonna make some thank yous. So, thank you to my parents for always being there for me, for everything whatsoever. Thank you to Gavin, who I’ve had so many adventures with, and so many fun memories, and I hope to make more! Quinn, you’re an amazing little sister, you’re so uplifting and happy, always jumping around and full of joy, you always put a smile on my face.