Since opening in 1996, more than 3,000 young men and women have earned their high school diplomas at Ombudsman Arizona Alternative Charter Schools. The Class of 2018 saw 306 students earn their diplomas – our largest graduating class ever!
For many students, Ombudsman offers the best path to help them overcome personal, economic, or academic challenges as they work toward their degree.
We’re featuring the commencement speeches of four Tucson-area graduates from the Class of 2018 here on the blog this month.
This is Perrion Miguel’s Ombudsman Arizona Charter success story.
“Thank you, Mr. Walls for the introduction.
Good evening Friends, Family, Faculty and fellow graduates.
Once again, my name is Perrion Miguel, I just want to say that it’s an honor to be standing in front of you all and to be delivering a speech for tonight’s ceremony. Don’t worry this speech will only take a few minutes and not the whole night.
Fellow graduates, could you please look to your left, (pause) now to your right… you may see some unfamiliar faces but that doesn’t matter tonight because tonight all you need to know is that these people beside you worked as hard as you did, possibly even more. Someone once said “Life is not easy for anyone. Sometimes you don’t see the challenges on the outside, but every single one of us has both those and everything that goes on inside as well. Give it your all. Dare to be all you can be.” That person was Hillary Clinton. Guess what fellow graduates? We did give it our all!
We may not know where the future will take us, but you will have the power to change the future with the opportunities this diploma gives us. You can do anything that you set your mind to.
Tonight, will be the last time you may see these people, or maybe not, but as we take our next milestone together just know, you aren’t alone. Yes, we may not know where the future will take us, but you will have the power to change the future with the opportunities this diploma gives us. You can do anything that you set your mind to.
As I close out this speech I would like to acknowledge the people who have helped achieve my goal tonight.
Thank you to Mrs. Romero who was my teacher when I first started and one of my last teachers this year. Thank you to Ms. Cramer for being there when I needed a push to get things done. Thank you to Ms. Webb and Ms. Mandly for putting up with me as I rushed through these past few months. Thank you to Ms. Bergamo, without her I probably wouldn’t be able to give this speech because she was my public speaking teacher and taught me a lot.
Lastly, I would like to thank my family because without their support I might have given up. There are people I have lost who cannot be here tonight. I thank them also. I especially want to thank my mother, Marilyn, because without her pushing me forward I possibly would not be crossing this stage on time.
Thank you and congratulations Class 2018.”
