good morning, father heria, brother felix, administration, faculty, staff, family,

friends, and fellow graduates.

i would like to thank all of you who have been our support system through the
years for taking the time to share this special moment with us, the soon-to-be-
graduated class of 2006. this day has been made even more special because, by the
grace of god, christy gutierrez is here to graduate with us this morning.

everyone always says, �enjoy your high school years. they�ll be the best
years of your life.� one thing i have certainly learned in these past four years
is that we determine our own future. if you choose to, you can make every year
your best. to many of us, our years at st. brendan will be the most cherished time
of our lives. for others, the best years are yet to come. however, i feel
confident in saying that we all have some wonderful memories, starting with
freshman year when we walked through the doors of st. brendan as baby sabres.
today, as we leave, we are older, wiser, stronger, and ready to face whatever god
has in store for each of us. we made our way through hawaii with lilo and stitch
as freshmen, into the world of the mario brothers as sophomores, past the
adventures of the arabian nights as juniors, and are now sitting on our thrones as
royalty. we�ll always remember freshman day, junior ring ceremony, talent shows,
homecoming weeks, formals, and encounters. and who could forget the 12 days of
christmas with ms. barnes as a �lord-a-leaping� or mr. healy with his
interpretation of �geese-a-laying�?

as we continue in our journey through life, we should make a vow to never

forget the people who crossed our path and touched our hearts: our teachers, each
of them fully dedicating themselves until the last �long and productive minute� to
teach us all they could about a subject in less than an hour a day, and still
gracefully succeeding in intertwining morals, values, and spirituality into the
daily lesson. our friends: the ones who brought a smile to our face each and every
morning, the ones who made lunch and 10 minute breaks a nice respite in our day,
and the ones who helped wipe away the tears when it seemed that no one really
cared. some of the friends we made were part of us for a short time� a few of them
will accompany us on through the future. we appreciate all our teachers and
friends for they have each individually touched us in a way that we, ourselves,
cannot understand. everyday and every encounter with each person helped carve us
into the unique sculptures we are today.

i would also like to especially thank our parents/ guardians, our families
for supporting and nurturing us throughout our lives. thank you for loving us and
dedicating yourselves to us as we grew into young men and women. without your
support and encouragement, we would not be here today graduating from a school
that has helped give us a foundation to be kind-hearted, loving, christian
individuals. above all, i would like to thank god for blessing us with the
opportunity to go to st. brendan high, where we were educated not only
academically, but spiritually as well. we are very fortunate to have been schooled
in a place where our lord was loved and welcomed. that has made all the
difference.

now, to my fellow graduates, classmates, and friends: this is your day.

thank you for making my experience at st. brendan high so amazing. you are each so
uniquely special. i wish you the best in life and in everything you do. i pray
that you all live long, healthy, peaceful, and beautiful lives. i am confident
that you will all achieve great and marvelous things, whether they are known to
the rest of the world or are kept to yourselves within the depths of your hearts.
remember: never be afraid to love. if you love and appreciate someone, tell them.
in the wise words of alfred lord tennyson �it is better to have loved and lost
than never to have loved at all.� be compassionate, trust god, learn to listen,
avoid gossip, be forgiving, and above all, be yourself. a man who captivated our
imaginations as children with thing one and thing two and the cat in the hat, dr.
seuss, stated �be who you are and say what you want, because those who mind don�t
matter, and those who matter don�t mind.�

thank you, god bless, and congratulations class of 2006!!