{"id":690,"date":"2014-05-29T10:07:14","date_gmt":"2014-05-29T14:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/speeches\/?p=690"},"modified":"2014-06-10T09:15:31","modified_gmt":"2014-06-10T13:15:31","slug":"baccalaureate-remarks-by-elizabeth-calderone-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/speeches\/2014\/05\/29\/baccalaureate-remarks-by-elizabeth-calderone-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Baccalaureate Remarks by Elizabeth Calderone ’14"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Photo by Matthew Cavanaugh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019m Elizabeth Calderone, the senior class treasurer. Many of you know me as Liz. Williston has been a magical place for many of us. To best describe the time we\u2019ve spent here, the allegory that comes to mind is the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz<\/em> by L. Frank Baum. Many of us know the movie The Wizard of Oz<\/em>, even if we haven\u2019t read the book. this novel was just the first of 14 in L. Frank Baum\u2019s Oz series. Much happens after the movie is over.<\/p>\n

In the Land of Oz, Dorothy and her companions had to deal with\u2026
\nLions, Tigers, and Bears (\u201cOh My\u201d).
\nIn our journey, we\u2019ve had to deal with\u2026
\nHomework, Papers, Exams (\u201cOh My\u201d)
\nHistory, Calculus, English (\u201cOh My\u201d)
\nActivities, AP Tests, and Mr. Gunn (\u201cOh My\u201d)\u2026 and so much more.<\/p>\n

But now, we\u2019ve done it! Our yellow brick road is behind us. We have reached the Emerald City. We now have new adventures to look forward to. This is just the first in our series. How are we supposed to envision its end?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s just a transition.<\/p>\n

I wrote the following poem to verbalize the closing of this chapter in our lives and the opening of another. It\u2019s entitled \u201cNot the End.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot the End\u201d<\/p>\n

White chairs. Green grass. White tent.
\nWhite dresses. Green trees. Blue tears.
\nBlack robes. White smiles. Red roses.
\nLoud bagpipes. Blue programs. Mr. Bagley.
\nSome speeches. Lots of clapping. Dark suits.
\nRows upon rows of faces.
\nThere\u2019s no place like home.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything has to come to an end, sometime\u201d
\nL. Frank Baum said so. But does it really?
\nOur yellow brick road must come to an end.
\nWith that white tent, those white chairs, our white dresses.
\nThe book is ending. On the final page, we rest.
\nThe binding is closing and all that\u2019s left is to get that piece of paper and
\nGo home.
\nThere\u2019s no place like home, is there?<\/p>\n

But for years, this\u2026has been our home.
\nSo remember the red roses. The black robes. And the white smiles.
\nLook around, for it will soon become a clouded memory.
\nThere\u2019s no place like home.
\nWe didn\u2019t take this journey alone. We had each other.
\nTogether we found our heart, our brain, our courage.
\nLike the Wizard once said, we\u2019ve had those attributes all along.
\nThey were coaxed out by our mentors\u2014
\nOur teachers, our family, those who cared.
\nThere\u2019s no place like home.<\/p>\n

Even after the chairs and tent are folded up and stored away,
\nRecall the scarecrow, the tin man,
\nAnd remember OUR lion.
\nThere\u2019s no place like home.<\/p>\n

We won\u2019t forget struggles caused by flying monkeys.
\nBut neither will we forget our helpers along the way.
\nRemember it all, but it\u2019s not the final ending.
\nAs we know,
\nL. Frank Baum did not stop with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz<\/em>,
\nDid he?
\nThere\u2019s no place like home.<\/p>\n

No matter where we go
\nThis will always be\u2026 our home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m Elizabeth Calderone, the senior class treasurer. Many of you know me as Liz. Williston has been a magical place for many of us. To best describe the time we\u2019ve spent here, the allegory that comes to mind is the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Many of us know the … Continue reading Baccalaureate Remarks by Elizabeth Calderone ’14<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[203,58,16],"tags":[204,205],"class_list":["post-690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baccalaureate-service","category-student-essay","category-student-speaker","tag-baccalaureate-2014","tag-elizabeth-calderone-14"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/speeches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/speeches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/speeches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/speeches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/speeches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=690"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/speeches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":741,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/speeches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690\/revisions\/741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/speeches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/speeches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/speeches\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}