Stephanie Bilyeu's Valedictory Address at Mount Miguel High School

Valedictorian Stephanie Bilyeu delivered this speech June 16, 2011, at Mount Miguel High School  commencement. She had a cumulative GPA of 4.725, earned the California Scholarship Federation Life Member Award, and will attend UCLA.

Good afternoon staff, friends, family, and most importantly the matador graduates of 2011. It’s a great honor to be a representative of this wonderful diverse group I stand before. I say diverse because we were all blessed to be able to have attended a school of so many various ethnicities and nationalities, where people are not judged, but are recognized by their intellect and talent.

Well, as most of you may remember, this school was once assumed as “Mount Mighetto”… at least to the ignorant and oblivious outsiders who knew nothing about us. But I’m proud to say that this class has most definitely helped erase that completely negative and wrong fallacy.

We are a class of amazing athletes, brilliant academic students, and kind hearted loving individuals. Whether it’s holding top spots in the science fair, breaking records on the track and basketball court, raising immense amounts of blood at blood drives to save hundreds of lives, or continuing to have one of the biggest improvements on state tests, Mount Miguel has become an all around better school thanks to you, the Class of 2011.

Before you all leave here today, I want each one of you to know that your presence was a factor at Mount Miguel. You all contributed to this school in a positive way, thus benefiting the growth of not only yourself, but the school as a whole.

And to conclude this farewell, I would like to give a big thank you to the people who helped me on my journey.

My family: Mommy, for putting up with my bad attitude and for loving me unconditionally.

Daddy, for treating me like the ultimate princess.

Brandon, for being a protective big brother and setting the bar high for me to beat… which I did.

And as for my friends, thank you Anthony for being the sweetest Lemon ever. Angela for always being positive and keeping a smile on my face. Huda… for just being "Huda Huda Huda." Danetta for being my queen, always protecting me – I’ll be your Brit’ Knee for life. Christian for making life a true fairy tale by being my knight in shining armor.

And of course my other half, Reena Mae Silva. You’re the first person I’ve ever encountered in life to truly be a friend. Words can’t describe our friendship because it’s so unique. If I write any more, something may accidentally fly into my eye, a frog will jump in my throat and then I won’t be able to continue speaking, so I’ll conclude this section by saying I love and will miss all of you dearly.

All in all, just remember… life only gets harder and along your road to success, there will always be people who will doubt you, just waiting to see you fail. But keep in mind that they have eyes, to look at you now. And as my mom always told me, “I don’t want you to open doors; I want the doors to be open for you.”

Let this quote be granted all of us. Congratulations Class of 2011! You will always be a Matador and will always be able to keep in touch… with Facebook!