Out-of-Door graduates ready to ‘flap their little wings ... to succeed’
Valedictorian Evan Murphy told his fellow Class of 2016 graduates at Out-of-Door Academy they are not the only ones surrounded by confusion. Most people in the real world are, he said.
“If confusion is the first step to knowledge, then I must be a genius,” Murphy said quoting Larry Leissner. “Seniors, we have logic that’s flipped around and thoughts that are more tangled than our headphones.”
That’s OK, he said, because it just means they are all “absolute geniuses.”
“So when you leave here today, I want you to step out of that mess and flap your little wings and fall straight down splat because that’s the only way confused little birds succeed,” Murphy told them evoking laughter and then aww’s from the crowd of roughly 300 in the Petrik Thunderdome on Saturday afternoon to watch 43 graduates be honored.
Senior speaker Todd Humphrey spoke about “inspiration and stuff,” causing laughter to erupt from those in attendance.
“Whatever situation you may come into, it is your choice to make the best of it,” Humphrey said.
He went on to beg his fellow graduates not to forget their high school years.
“Do not forget spending the last four years with some of the most incredible people that you guys may meet in your life,” he said. “One da,y we will all look back at the times we had in high school and we will think to ourselves, “Man, that was one hell of a ride’.”
Out-of-Door Academy Class of 2016
Graduates: 43
Graduating class: 18
Speakers: Evan Murphy, valedictorian; Todd Humphrey, senior speaker; Robert Naylor, student chosen faculty speaker
Shining moment: Graduates Samuel Hajduk and Serenna Jones performed Somewhere and later M’Balia Bangorura performed You Raise Me Up.
Interesting: Every graduate was accepted into a four-year university and collectively the class was awarded more than $7.3 million in scholarships.
Best quote: “So when you leave here today, I want you to step out of that mess and flap your little wings and fall straight down splat because that’s the only way confused little birds succeed,” Murphy told fellow graduates.
This story was originally published June 4, 2016 at 10:50 PM with the headline "Out-of-Door graduates ready to ‘flap their little wings ... to succeed’."