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00:00That was our whole sign, huh?
00:04It just dropped a single.
00:15That's what's up.
00:20So please support them.
00:23I would like to thank our valedictorian and despise, Daya Cager.
00:40Good afternoon to the graduates, faculty, family, and friends.
00:44I am Daya Cager, and I am honored to be the valedictorian of South I's class of 2025.
00:51It has not been an easy path to get myself where I am today, and I did not do it at all.
01:01I want to thank my mom who provides me with unwitting support, unconditional love, and a constant shoulder to lean on.
01:08No matter what happens or how it looks, she always manages to make things happen for us.
01:14Her strength as a single mom is unmatched, and I know that I can always consider about anything.
01:21Thank you to everyone who has given me a ride to my second school, NOPA.
01:26For the last three years, I have attended both sci-fi and NOPA for visual arts, and finding transportation has not been easy.
01:36I am thankful to those who drove me to NOPA, allowing me to be in a space where I could further develop my craft.
01:42Thank you to my ancestors for paving the way before me, and to those on my spiritual team that provided guidance and support on the things I cannot always see or manage.
01:54A part of how I stand speaking before y'all today is solely on prayers that have not gone unanswered.
02:01I also want to thank my academic guidance counselors, especially Ms. Rosemary.
02:06Ever since my freshman year, I will go into her office with an issue and leave with it resolved.
02:12Congratulations to the class of 2025.
02:16With the endurance of the pandemic and Hurricane Ida affecting our freshman year, various changes within the school, and personal moments of struggle,
02:26we also made it, and are now moving on to the next chapter in our lives.
02:31For some of you, this is probably the most you have ever heard me speak.
02:36During my school, I have always been the quiet girl in the classroom or the library in the mornings doing her work constantly.
02:44While hard work does pay off and is what got me here, two things can be true at once.
02:50Striving to do my best became a slippery slope of perfectionism and striving to be the best.
02:56I found myself striving for an A in each of my classes and would have moments of spiraling if it ever got momentarily to a B.
03:06I took the KCT a total of five times.
03:09Once my freshman year, twice my sophomore year, once my junior year, and twice my senior year.
03:16You would think that I would have scored a dirty or higher at least once, but I did not.
03:21Each and every time, I faced terrible anxiety that was physically tacked to me.
03:26The thought of how heavily the score would affect my future caused severe feelings of working.
03:31Through that experience, plus some, I learned that not only is failure inevitable, it is also a teacher.
03:38My uncle would always say, what hurts and struts.
03:43Unfortunately, I did not have much time in high school to discover myself outside of my academic and artistic endeavors.
03:50It wasn't until very recently that I started to break out of my shell and understand my work.
03:57Outside of being the valedictorian with perfectionist traits, I also enjoy baking, making my own bread, and I am not above being lazy.
04:07I know it may sound ironic coming from me, but there is a lack outside of working and strategy.
04:15It took the experience of failure to understand that I am more than any of my academic achievements.
04:21My work does not lie within my artistic abilities, what schools I have gotten into, or my looks.
04:27It lies in terms of me.
04:29But, if you are wondering who did my makeup, Mary on the beat did it so fuck with my cousin!
04:39Your work lies within you, not on you.
04:41Your path is your path, and the bumps in the road cannot be escaped, and only serve to get you to higher levels of success.
04:51All right!
04:52All right!