BRATTLEBORO — It has become apparent to me over my four years at Brattleboro Union High School that every single member of our class is good at something.
Now that might seem like a pretty obvious thing to say, but it's important.
I know kids in our class who can play great baseball, soccer, or tennis and turn around and ace a math test.
I know kids who can ski or skate circles around you, all the while making you laugh so hard your sides hurt.
I know kids who can blow you away with the sounds they coax from their instruments, who won't ever boast or say a mean word to you.
There are kids who fix cars, kids who plow fields, kids who chop down trees, put out fires, milk cows, and soothe crying infants.
At the same time, we must also realize that all of us, and I mean every single one of us, is bad at something. Not just okay, not just mediocre, but pretty awful.
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Just as we all succeed at some aspects of our lives, we all stink pretty badly at others.
Some of us can't run very fast, some of us can't spell, some of us can't do math, and some of us don't have a musical bone in our bodies. I, for one, am not very good at basketball, as anybody who watched the Blue Team in this year's intramural basketball league already knows.
I point this out because I think one of the most important qualities we can have is the ability to know ourselves. As cheesy as that might sound, knowing what you're good at and what you're bad at is extremely helpful. Knowing what you can do with ease and what you really have to work at will make for a much easier life.
Once you have enough self awareness to know what makes you special, you can work to develop it.
Once you understand yourself well enough to know what you're bad at, you can focus your energy not on masking it, but on improving that aspect of yourself.
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I stand up here as the valedictorian, but I'm in no position to lecture. I could pretend that I'm up on a pedestal and say how we should all live our lives, but my words would be no better than yours. The amount all of you could teach me dwarfs what I could teach you.
Our collective knowledge and skill set as this Brattleboro Union High School Class of 2013 is colossal.
If I want to learn how to properly throw 10 different styles of Frisbee throws, I know where to go.
If I want to know how to make really good stir-fry, I know who to find.
If I want to learn Dutch, I know where to look.
If I want to learn how to shoot a good jump shot - well, I wish I knew who to ask, but I promise you that there's someone sitting in this sea of purple and white who could teach me.
Among the 200 or so of us in this graduating class, there's an enormous range of ability and talent, some known, some undiscovered and untapped. My strengths are somebody else's weaknesses, but the places where my flaws are the most pronounced, are the same places where somebody else has excelled.
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If the people in this class of 2013, in this student body, in this town cooperated with one another, we would have all of our bases covered. Because we each have our strengths and our weaknesses, we can fill in the gaps in our collective knowledge.
As valuable members of society, it is the responsibility of each and every one of us to help one another achieve. Nothing is less helpful than acting smug and watching someone else fail where you can succeed.
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So, quite frankly (and here's a Lord of the Rings quote for you), “I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”
But while we might not all know one another, and we might not all be best friends with one another, we must all recognize that each of us has strengths, each of us has weaknesses, and each of us has a valid opinion.
So be confident, but be humble. Don't be discouraged, but don't be arrogant. Never think that you're better than everyone, but never think that everyone's better than you. And always listen to what someone has to say.