2023 sals: Wylie's DePrang urges grads to 'embrace the uncertainty'

Good evening graduates, faculty, administrators, family and friends:

Thank you all for coming to support the class of 2023 as we take the step from being high school students to high school graduates. Each of you here tonight has had a hand in supporting us in some way through our high school careers, and we would like to thank you for choosing to invest your time into us.

I especially want to recognize the teachers who have pushed us outside our comfort zones and taught us valuable lessons both in and out of the classroom. I also want to thank our parents for waking us up so we didn’t miss the bus, for picking up the supplies for a project we didn’t start 'til the night before, and bringing our homework to the school even though we left it at home.

One morning, halfway to school, my mom had to turn around and go back home because I realized I didn’t have my shoes on - only my socks. So, thank you parents for being so patient with us all these years.

For us students, our journey begins tonight after we walk across this stage. Some of us may be getting ready for college, preparing to enter the military or about to join the workforce. Whatever your next step may be, know that you’re equipped with all the tools necessary to do so. It will undoubtedly be scary for most of us, but then again, walking into high school on the first day was scary, too, and we got through that.

John Paulos once said, “Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and living with insecurity is the only security.” It’s OK not to know what will happen after today. In fact, that’s the fun in life. Our lives would be terribly boring if we knew exactly what would happen. So, let’s embrace the uncertainty!

I encourage each of you to be brave when faced with the unknown like we are today. Don’t let it paralyze you into inaction. And don’t let it stop you from pursuing what you want. Embrace the crashing waves of failure andhardship that’ll try to push you back. I know all of us can persevere and find success.

That’s my next point: what does it mean to be “successful?”

People often look to others to find the answer, but those people will wind up searching forever. Each of our paths to success will look different. And that’s OK. It should. To me, success is finding fulfillment in your work and positively impacting other people’s lives.

Oprah Winfrey sums this up perfectly by saying, “What I know is that if you do work that you love, and the work fulfills you, the rest will come.”

Success isn’t measured in money, grades, or social expectations. It’s measured in fulfillment, derived from our relationships with others and doing good work in society.

Of course, it’s easier said than done. Setbacks on this path are inevitable. But it’s our perspective that determines our success. You and you alone define what it means to be successful; no one else can make that decision for you.

So, as we stand here tonight, at the threshold of our future, remember this unusual feeling of excitement. You’re ready to forge your own path of success, whatever that may look like. While doing so, embrace the uncertainty. Be bold, take risks, and live life the way you want to live it.

And, in the words of A. P. Dayley, “Tackle each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.”

Thank you.

David DePrang is salutatorian .

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: 2023 sals: Wylie's DePrang urges grads to 'embrace the uncertainty'