Mainland Regional High School Class of 2008
Salutatorian Address

By JENNIFER CHAU

Four years ago, most of us were the Class of 2004, graduating middle school and anxiously awaiting the beginning of high school, a new chapter of our lives. What would the future hold for us? And now here we are again, right where we were before, asking again, what does the future hold for us? But this time, as the Class of 2008, we bring with us four years of growth, experience, knowledge, and memories.

Today we celebrate our tremendous accomplishment of surviving Mainland, but before we leave here for the last time as Mainland’s students, I want you all to take a good look around you. This may be the last time we will all be gathered here together in one place. This may be the last time you will see the person next to you. After this, so many of us will be scattered in so many different directions. There may be a future famous football player sitting right here among us, who will win more Super Bowls than Tom Brady. There may be future famous comedians, singers, actors and volleyball players who we may see on “Entertainment Tonight.” There may be future winners of Nobel Prizes. There may even be a future president of the United States. With the talent and potential I see in this class, the possibilities are endless!

No matter what we do, where we go, our roots are here. We will never forget the memories and the experiences we had here. We will remember swimming class freshman year, driving for the first time, and turning 18. We will remember boxes of Sour Patch kids delivered to K-Town, getting on pool tables, baseball, and for me, my song. We will remember the hard-learned lessons from our mistakes, from our indecisiveness and from well-meaning criticisms. And with all of this, we will move into the future together, taking on whatever it has in store for us, together. I know that we are ready.

I would like to take the opportunity now to thank those who have helped us get this far. Thank you to some of the faculty and staff of Mainland for your patience and dedication to the education of all students equally. And last but not least, I would like to extend a special thanks to the parents and other family and friends of the Class of 2008. Thank you for your encouragement and support for the first 18 years of our lives. Without you all, we may not be where we are today. We look forward to enjoying your continued support throughout our lives.

The future is bright for us graduates, but I can only hope the same for the future graduates of Mainland. Now, I know that you are a community that values education, that only wants what is best for your children. And that is why I think you deserve to know what is really going on behind the walls of Mainland. Unlike you all, Mainland’s administration does not value education …

(At this point, Principal Robert Blake stopped Chau and told her to leave the field. The rest of the speech she planned to deliver continues below.)

… as highly as it should. They do not encourage students to work hard and do their best. The first words spoken to me by the administration were negative and discouraging. I know students who have had the talent, ambition, and drive to challenge themselves in school, only to get shut down by the administration and told by the principal that “it wouldn’t be fair to everyone else.”

Four years ago, I entered Mainland with high hopes of receiving the best education I could, and as a student in the United States of America, I hoped that all students would be treated equally with equal opportunity to excel in high school. Unfortunately, I learned that Mainland’s administration values connections more than education.

The biggest lesson I have learned here is that it’s not what you know that matters, it’s who you know. This is a known fact around Mainland. If you know someone on the inside, perhaps on the school board, then life could be much easier. Some people choose justice and do not abuse their power. However, others do choose to take advantage of their power. Certain clubs and activities are approved right away while others are completely ignored and only approved after hard work and constant persuasion. Class officers’ election results suddenly include ties, and certain positions are shared. National tests are retaken. Graduation requirements are changed or “specified” suddenly to fit the needs of certain people. Throughout my four years here at Mainland, I have found that the rules are constantly being modified to fit the needs of certain people. Mainland’s administration needs to work towards providing equal opportunities for all of its students.

Ladies and gentlemen, it has been 10 years since Mainland has won its Blue Ribbon. Mainland needs to wake up and see that it is no longer the Blue Ribbon school it was before. It is time for a change toward improvement. Mainland’s administration needs to improve its communication and relationship with its students. A good school is one that listens to and encourages its most valued assets – students – and works together with them to improve the school for the benefit of the community, taxpayers, and themselves. Students are what make a good school. A strong faculty is important, but only with determined and hardworking students is success attainable.

I am sorry if it seems as though I am ranting. That is not my purpose today. I speak today on behalf of all the voices of the students who have been ignored. I speak to improve the future of our school and to improve the conditions for current and future students of Mainland. Hopefully, just as we have learned from our mistakes and others’ criticism, our school can learn also, so that we can all have a better tomorrow.

To the Class of 2008, I would like to personally thank you for a fantastic four years filled with many memories. I encourage you all to use your experiences to hope, to love life, to do what you want to do, to do what you think is right, to fight for your rights … because you only have one life to do right.
The future is clear, open, and full of opportunities and success! Let’s go get ’em!