校友

我是蒙台梭利的孩子，从小长大. 我把粉红色的塔堆叠起来, 数在千珠链上, and walked down the halls of my school with my hands behind my back until third 年级.  我从六岁开始背诗, 二年级学习长除法, 从四年级到八年级都在表演莎士比亚, 和另外三个人一起从八年级毕业.  不用说, my elementary and middle school experience wasn’t exactly what anyone would call stereotypical.

我就读于皇冠足球投注网址蒙特梭利学校, 后来改名为皇冠足球注册, 从一年级到八年级.  我一年级的时候和后来和我一起毕业的三个人中的两个在一起, 他们都比我更了解我自己.  也许这就是我发现自己是高中生的原因之一, 还在回忆在皇冠足球投注网址的“美好时光”.  我仍然每周至少回去拜访一次，从未间断.  I guess it’s the amazing sense of community I feel the instant I walk through the doors of Westwood. 想想看, where else can you find a fifth 平地机 walking down the halls with their best friend, 谁刚好是七年级的?  不是很多地方，这就是皇冠足球投注网址的特别之处.  All the social stereotypes that appear in middle school and hang around for the rest of our lives, 似乎在皇冠足球投注网址的走廊里消失了.  没人在乎你穿什么牌子的衣服或者你的肤色.  No one considers the fact that their best friend may be three years younger than them, 在一个完全不同的社会阶层. None of that matters, and it’s what makes Westwood such a welcoming and unique place.

It never ceases to amaze me how each time I walk down the tiny hallway that I walked down every day for so many years, 我在皇冠足球投注网址还是受欢迎的.  大多数老师都曾经教过我, 他们中的其他人从我的学生时代就认识我了.  I look forward to visiting the principal’s office now to give her the update on high school.  My best friend’s mom works in the office, and sometimes I’ll just drop by to say, “Hi.”

每次我走进皇冠足球投注网址温暖的怀抱，我都有回家的感觉.  我想这就是皇冠足球投注网址对我的意义，我的家外之家，我的避风港.  我知道所有的小秘密, 我认得每一张脸, 我可以公开地做我自己, and I can always find something that reminds me of all the good times I had at Westwood.  And knowing that I can credit those memories to my Westwood family gives the school a very special place in my heart.  毕竟, Westwood is not only the place where I learned more than how to multiply and diagram sentences; it is the place where I learned about myself.  我在皇冠足球投注网址长大，皇冠足球投注网址将永远是我的一部分.

So, I may be just that girl who came from the school with only four people in her graduating class.  然而, this girl knows that what she got at Westwood was something special and unlike any other middle school experience and it is something that she is lucky to have been a part of.  她知道皇冠足球投注网址不仅在她心中永远占有一席之地, 但皇冠足球投注网址将永远为她敞开大门.  这是她不会为了世界上所有的钱而放弃的东西.

我还清楚地记得我在皇冠足球投注网址的第一天. 那是1999年，我进入了5年级^th 年级. I walked into the classroom full of strangers; a shy and petrified nine-year-old girl dressed in a pair of purple Winnie the Pooh overalls. 我独自坐在一张桌子旁. 没过多久，我就被一个大声喧哗的人走近了^th格雷德穿着长及指尖的卡其短裤. Her name was Daniela Acosta and, despite my shy demeanor, she became an instant friend.

尽管那天我一句话也没说, 我记得我静静地观察我的同学, 注意到他们有点像放大版的布雷迪家族, 或者其他相关群体的个体, 他们以善于相处著称. I thought happily to myself that this was a family and a community I was glad to become a part of.

时间快进到2003年5月，我8岁了^th 年级毕业，你会发现一个健谈的人, 好奇的, 而自信的年轻女子取代了害羞, 紫色工装裤^th 平地机. 是女士. 巴特勒在我毕业时收到的书里写到我, “你已经成长为一个如此自信的人. 你已经成为一个领导者，能够清楚地陈述你的想法和原则. You cannot be swayed from your convictions and that will make you a rare gem in this world.” And that is what Westwood gave to me–the nurturing environment and freedom to explore who I am–that allowed me to become the person I am today.

而不是仅仅专注于传播知识, my teachers gave me the liberty to experience and learn by doing tasks that engaged my whole personality. It instilled in me a natural joy of learning that helped me succeed in high school. 最重要的是，它给了我勇气去面对我可能遇到的任何恐惧. 我为我在皇冠足球投注网址的岁月感到骄傲, 那些很快就把我当成家人的陌生人, of the fond memories I created with peers; and, I am 自信 in knowing that wherever I go in the future I will always have the support of my family at Westwood. My years at Westwood shaped my character and provided me with the foundation I built on in high school. 再过几天我就要高中毕业了, 虽然我在皇冠足球投注网址的学生生涯几年前就结束了, 我将永远是这里社区的一员.

接近我生命中的这个里程碑, 我常常发现自己带着怀旧之情回顾我在这里创造的回忆. 我的意思是, 诚实, where else could you recite Shakespeare at a time when other kids your age are weaning themselves off of Dr. 苏斯, 你的整个中学班级都在一张野餐桌上吃午饭吗, or have Spanish class in the back of a pick-up truck with your energetic guitar-playing Spanish teacher?

带着这些回忆, 以及追求梦想和人生目标的信心, 我已准备好开始我人生的新篇章.距离纽约州罗彻斯特的皇冠足球投注网址98英里. 但是，当心萨米，因为我才334岁.离你56英里.

所以，谢谢你. Butler and to all the amazing teachers and the staff here for giving us students the tools to succeed in life. 祝贺2007届皇冠足球投注网址的毕业生们. I’m sure you’ve made just as amazing memories as I did as a student and I would advise you not to be sad that your time here is coming to an end, 但很高兴它发生了. 我可以试着给你们很多你们可能会忘记的建议, 而不是, 我觉得以莎士比亚作为结尾是恰当的, “最重要的是要忠于你自己。.

There are three things that Westwood has promised to provide each student with and now, graduating 8^th 成绩，我知道我也有提供. The first being character, followed by community, and, last but not least, academic excellence.

回顾过去的11年，我在这里的学生, 有些事情我从来没想过我能做到. 例如, 我知道，如果没有我那些了不起的老师的帮助, I would never have had the courage to pretend to be a man in a Shakespearean production, or explain the process of how a Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell works in front of a panel of engineers.

和我一起上课的大多数人，我在这里的第一天就认识了. 我们是一起长大的. Westwood是一所学校, but could also be defined as a place where a huge family comes together to learn and to help each other exceed their personal expectations. 这个社区让我感到安全, 自信, 也让我有机会交到一些非凡的朋友.

学术. Even though we all gripe about the homework we receive, in the end, it’s all worth it. I can only begin to tell you how great it feels to tour a sophomore science class, 并确切地理解他们在说什么. 虽然我很担心高中, 我对皇冠足球投注网址为我提供的课程感到放心, 我准备再读一遍《皇冠足球注册》.

当我谈到皇冠足球投注网址是如何造就了今天的我, 我指的是皇冠足球投注网址女士. 巴特勒，还有我所有的老师. 谢谢你，女士. Butler for putting up with me when I was three years old, crying my eyes out, in Mrs. 谢里尔的学前班，谢谢你每天都指导我. And thank you to all of my incredible teachers who have given me the tools to excel in the future.

皇冠足球投注网址给了我做自己的信心，不管情况如何. 我在这里遇到的人, 以及我的经历, 是什么塑造和塑造了今天的我. 谢谢皇冠足球投注网址，这了不起的11年.