Editor’s note: Today, The DAILY LEADER continues publication of valedictorian and salutatorian speeches from recent graduation ceremonies at local schools. Today’s address is from Wesson Attendance Center Valedictorian Christal Davis.

     First of all, I would like to welcome everyone to today’s graduation ceremony. Second, I would like to thank all the family, friends, teachers, and other faculty who are here today in support of our class, the class of 2012. Your support, love, and guidance have been invaluable to us along our journey.

     Our years of hard work and dedication have paid off today, and I can proudly say we have finally made it! We have reached a milestone in our life’s journey, but it is also a fork in the road of our lives.

     As a class we have walked this long road together. And I do mean long, because there are a good many of us who have been walking this road together for about as long as we could walk.

     From cooties to first kisses to that first breakup we thought we would never survive, but obviously did, we have grown into young adults together. Through the good and the bad, the laughter and the tears, we have shared it all.

     Together we remember the pep rallies, the first days of school, the homecoming dances, the thrilling football wins, and the crushing losses. We set off rockets with Mrs. Clopton, and a few of us even lost them and searched for days. We studied religiously for Mr. Brown’s tests, dreading those killer true and false.

     Through it all, we have challenged ourselves academically and grown as students. The memories of these past years will stay with us forever, but now it’s time for us to step out and make new ones.

     Today we set off on different journeys, dreaming different dreams, and hoping different things. As our paths open up before us and we make crucial life choices in the next few months, we won’t all be walking the same way.

     We’ll climb to new heights in life, set new goals and reach them, and accomplish more than we ever imagined we could if we walk down the road of life remembering the same persistence and courage that led us to today’s accomplishment. Nothing is impossible if we truly want it bad enough. Our dreams can be reached, and today is evidence of that.

     Today marks the beginning of the life you choose for yourself. Though it may feel like the end of something wonderful, see graduation as only the beginning of something even better. As each of you set off on different journeys, I hope that you never lose sight of your dreams and never tire of walking the long road that leads to them.

     Recall the words of Mark Twain, who said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by those you did.” So set off on your road unafraid. Sure, you will make mistakes, but make sure you learn from them. The aim is not to be perfect; the aim is to make it worth it.

     I want each of you to know that if ever your road gets too rough or too steep to walk alone, you always have a friend in me and in each of our classmates, someone you can call up and catch up. No matter what happens or what changes in our lives, no matter how far our paths take us from this small town, together we will always be Wesson High School’s class of 2012.

     Christal Davis is the daughter of Dean and Sue Davis.