Auburn High School Graduation Address (As Written)

June 18, 2006

Auburn Trojans hats off to thee�.

Congratulations graduates! I�m honored to share this important day with you.

I have to admit, graduation speeches are very challenging to prepare.

After all, graduates make up half the audience and they, if I remember right, are almost universally thinking, �This speaker is all that stands between me and celebration.�

Families make up another large segment, and from personal experience I know they have supported you and deserve a big thanks. Graduates, stand up and applaud your families!

Last, but certainly not least, please join me in thanking the faculty and staff of Auburn High School. You have some extraordinary teachers here. They�ve prepared you for today, and they believe in you.

Today also represents a historic milestone, as an alumna of Auburn High School, I�m very proud to participate in this 100th commencement ceremony.

Today, there are over 500 graduates in the �Class of 2006.�

The �Class of 1906� had three graduates. I�m guessing their ceremony didn�t take as long as today�s.

I�m sure they were just as nervous and excited. It was a very different time, and they could not have imagined what the next 100 years would bring to Auburn, and the world.

I was raised on a small farm in Auburn � yeah, that�s right, I said a farm in Auburn.

I graduated in 1965 with 353 classmates. We walked some of the same hallways as you, although the campus has changed.

Our football team played on this same field.

Except our 1965 team did not make it to the state tournament like your team. Unfortunately, they did not have a winning season that year; in fact, they scored a touchdown in the wrong end zone in our �apple cup� against Kent Meridian (the eighth consecutive loss against them).

And, as Principal Harvey noted, I would like to congratulate you on all your successes in athletics, academics, music and school and community contributions.

In 1965, when I was where you are now:


  • The Beatles were big;
  • The first U.S. combat troops were sent to Vietnam;
  • I remember like it was just yesterday sitting in class as the announcement was made over the intercom that JFK had been shot;
  • Martin Luther King led a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama; and
  • Astronaut Ed White made the first U.S. space walk.

The Vietnam War, the civil rights era, the Cold War. These were the challenges of my generation.

But your generation � your generation is being challenged by in a way that we never could have imagined back in 1965, by globalization.

Globalization simply means that we�re more connected to the rest of the world�like the invention of the telephone�times a billion!

You were born into a generation as comfortable with globalization as you are with blogging and text messaging on your cell phones.

It is the defining characteristic of this generation and this new century.

You order a DVD over the Internet from Amazon.com that�s flown from Singapore to SeaTac and trucked to Auburn.

You watch �The Simpsons� on Sunday night with production in Los Angeles and animation in South Korea.

Each generation is put to the test. Each generation in this country�when faced with challenges or threats�rises to the occasion and makes whole the promise of our country.

Today is a call to action for you. Globalization is no ordinary force, and this is no ordinary time.

In this new global movement, our state is on the front lines. In fact, we�re more like a small nation than a state. Just consider the leaders who have visited Washington and marveled at our industries and culture over the last few weeks:

President Hu of China and President Vicente Fox of Mexico.

It�s going to be a few years before any of you are CEOs of international corporations, but it won�t be long before you�re competing for a job with folks in Peru and Ireland.

My hope is that you approach the challenges of globalization just like those of my generation as we embraced JFK�s call to place a man on the moon. We dream big as Americans, and we do great things when we�re put to the test.

Your high school graduation marks more than academic achievement. You�ve spent years dreaming about the freedoms and privileges of adulthood and your education will launch you wherever you want to go or whatever you choose to do.

But don�t let your education end today. I hope you�ll think of education as lifelong learning. In a world as connected as ours, you must.

My mom knew that education would be the key to my future. She made sure I finished my homework. She worried if I came home late. She cheered me on when I was Girls Club President. She always told me to work hard. And she was proud of me the day I graduated from Auburn High School.

I am living proof that a kid from Auburn, Washington, can grow up to be anything she wants to be. If I can do it, so can you. But that doesn�t mean it will be easy. It takes hard work and commitment.

You need to get every bit of education you can so that you are prepared to compete with the rest of the world

It may be a bachelor�s, doctorate or law degree from a four-year university; it may be an associate�s degree from a community college. It may be a certificate program at a technical college, a trade apprenticeship or training through our military.

Whatever form it may take, the education you receive will propel you to anywhere you want to go.

And we need you. Our state needs you to do this so Washington remains competitive.

You must also remember that with adulthood come responsibilities. The responsibility to your families and loved ones and to our community to be a good citizen. To give back to those who gave to you.

Make time in your life to volunteer at a nursing home or a food bank. Make it one of your personal priorities to give yourself back to the community. Do what is important to you, but just be sure to do something.

We have to bring everyone along in this journey and often that means we have to reach out and help others.

As Attorney General and as Governor, I have been approached by dozens of young people who proudly told me of their success because an adult reached out, believed in them and helped them turn their life around.

Now you can be that adult.

So you can make a difference � Getting as much education as you can and lending a helping hand to your community and another person.

All of us here today � graduates, parents, friends and family -- are embarking on one of the most exciting times in history. These times will test us, but I know we will step up to the challenge.

Just as our nation rose to President Kennedy�s challenge to put the first man on the moon, we must rise to the challenge of globalization by ensuring each of us and our great state succeeds.

Congratulations my fellow AHS graduates and thank you.

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