Alright guys, now it is time for the lessons I learned along the way. Now, I may not be the smartest, best looking, most athletic, most hardworking or the most charismatic individual at AMP, but I have learned a thing or two during my high-school career. I just want to say that these opinions are based on my high school experiences only, so if you feel differently, it is probably because your high school experience was better than mine. Another thing to keep in mind, some of these may seem logical to most people, but I had to learn these things along the way, so bear with me.

First off, I want to say that you should never get too carried away with anything. Never get over-excited about something because life doesn’t go the way it is supposed to. It is impossible to plan out everything and nothing ever goes according to plan. There are two main ways to go about life: Either you believe in destiny and no matter what, your life will end up the way it is supposed to or you don’t believe in destiny and you live life by the moment, in which case nothing you do spontaneously matters, because your whole life is spontaneous. I try to plan out every little detail of my life and something ALWAYS gets screwed up. I will admit that it is important to stay positive about certain aspects in life, but always try to keep things realistic. It is important to know your limits and assure that your dreams don’t interfere with your reality.
Secondly, I want to talk to you guys about high school in general. I’ve come to realize that High School is identical to the movies, only karma doesn’t always help us out. In high school, there will always be backstabbers, the jocks, the nerds; we all form our own little groups even though we all help each other out, friendships will be lost and found, and hearts will be broken. But in the end, whether you had a great 5 years in High School or a terrible 5 years, it is important to remember that your life is not based off of high-school. You may have made some mistakes, or had some great achievements, but this does not dictate who you are. Yes, this is probably the most influential part of your life, but that doesn’t mean you can’t change that. I don’t know about you guys, but I am extremely excited to start CEGEP. Not because I’m leaving here, but because I am going there. It’s a new beginning; it’s time to start anew. Maybe you weren’t the most social guy in school, maybe you were looked down upon because of this, well, now is your chance to change that. People evolve every day. Men at the age of 45 have their mid-life crisis. Women change once a month into like this monster spawned by Cuthulu. But that is what makes us who we are; at the same time, you also have the capability to change yourself.
Make sure you don’t change for others, but for yourself. People should not dictate the way you portray yourself. If you start working out to impress someone, buying some “swag” clothes just to fit in, or whatever it is you are doing; YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING WRONG! This isn’t about selfishness or narcissism, but no one should be telling you what you should become. If you are going to work out, make sure that you do it for yourself, to be healthier than the rest of us, to be able to run a marathon, or whatever. But it should never be about anyone but you. Also, make sure you keep your friends, because losing a friend is the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone. It has happened to me multiple times over the course of these last few years of my life and I am not proud about this at all. I mean, the worst is when it is someone that you admire and appreciate being your friend, and suddenly they just want to break away from your life. I’ve learned that your actions shouldn’t be making you happy, but the others around you. If you only think about your interests in a so called relationship, that doesn’t work. Always think of others ahead of you and make sure you don’t hurt the ones around you, because if u do, and it really impacts them, you’re going to be affected too.
Lastly, don’t trust others as much as you want to. Even though it may feel better to let your feelings out or opinions, its best to just keep them either to yourself or to your closest friend. They always know what to say, and can always cheer you up, no matter what.
As eager as I am to start CEGEP, I’m not excited to lose all of my current friends or acquaintances. I wish I was friends with everyone, but I’ve never had the chance to talk to all of you, whether it was because we weren’t in the same class or because we just never got along, I really wish that I got to know all of you.

What I learned socially and academically:
Socially: I learned that “life isn’t fair” and that karma is non-existent. No matter how hard you try to fix something, it is near impossible to fix it. And in those circumstances, you just got to let it go. People, men and women, but mostly women, will act in ways that may surprise you, maybe even shock you. Well, you’re in luck, because you can’t fix it. I mean, high school corresponds to 5 years of our life. According to Wikipedia’s Standards, that is 1/16th of our entire life. We have a long time left, you can’t just let life takes its course based on your failures and achievements in high school. So some girl didn’t like you or you were too fat, too short; your friends mocked you, so what?!? People grow up, emotionally and mentally. And you can’t do anything about that. The world does not revolve around you only, so be prepared for some stupid shit.
Academically: This school has taught me that procrastination does not pay whatsoever. But, it has taught me to never give up… in terms of studies. I have surpassed my difficulties in French; becoming better than some other students to whom I was inferior before. Your current state of mind does not dictate the kind of person you are. I would have never dreamed of getting a meritas in STE, not in a million years, but I tied, with like 5 other people. I ran through the gauntlet, and I survived. In consequence, at the moment, I feel completely burnt out. No matter how much I hate that feeling, it’s a sign of achievement, a sign that I never quit, and that you never should.

Inspirational Message:
In the end guys, you are the sole influence to yourself. If you let people tell you that you are fat, stupid, ugly, then you will become fat, stupid, ugly. I recently heard this audiobook called “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz. Yes Thomas, he is a Mexican shaman, writer. In the book, Ruiz talked about 4 ways to live by in order to be at peace with yourself. The first and most important agreement is to be impeccable with yourself. Be kind to yourself, respect yourself, because no one is more important to yourself than you. Treat others with respect, they will reciprocate. Life is all about balance. Sometimes, in order to have a balance, there needs to be an imbalance.
For all those perusing in medicine or engineering or anything else, remember this: Work hard, play harder. I’m not a party animal of any sorts, but I have some hobbies. I enjoy martial arts, as many of you may or may not know. And I feel good when I’m there; I feel calm, you know, cool as a cucumber, etc. I’ve been through a lot recently, although it’s a pretty common thing in most people lives, losing someone, and I don’t even mean death, is not an easy thing to go through. But it is good to know that there is always something to look forward to, something that really makes your day. So remember, having a hobby is important, it helps you get through tough times.
People ask me all the time, “Who will you miss the most?” and I always say that I will miss everyone. All of you have become a part of my day-to-day life; you all kind of “complete” my life. If one of you is missing from class, unless it’s like Ricardo or Maxim, I feel like something is missing in my day.
But hey, life continues and it’s time to depart. I hope to see you guys in the future; at like a high school reunion a couple years later, just to see how much we have progressed in life.
Goodbye and good luck, I hope you didn’t find my presentation too boring. :D