Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of a loving God.

So, this is it. I don’t think there are any words sufficient to describe what this school has meant to me. It’s been the best three years of my life and I’ve met the most incredible people, so I’d like to start by thanking you all for that.

Nonetheless, I’ll see if I can give it a shot by starting this off with a short story.

When I first started driving, I had a terrible sense of direction. Ask me to get from my house to a nearby landmark, and I probably wouldn’t have a clue. My friends often got aggravated when I didn’t associate roads by names foreign to me like “95-north” and “route 1.” To me, those were just the roads to the beach and the highway you took to La Salle Academy, the place we’ve all called home for the past couple of years.

This past summer, my phone died on my way back from Westerly, and I was a fish out of water. I took any and every detour, exit, and back-road on the long haul back to my house, yet somehow, some way, I was able to find my way home. I think that’s a distinctly human quality. Regardless of where we are, who we’re with, and what we do, we will, inevitably, always find our way back home.

My mom used to tell me that life is kind of like a highway– some people are in the high speed lane, some are in the travel lane, some are in the breakdown lane, and there are those who choose to ride a bike. Regardless of what we rode in on, as we all cruised along, somehow, some way, we all took the right route to end up at 612 Academy Avenue. We were all a little lost. We didn’t know who we were yet. But we found our home away from home, and while doing it, we became the people we are today.

Today, of course, was our last day of classes. It’s the day on which most of us will bid farewell to 612 Academy Ave. and the day we all hop back on the highway en route to our next destination, our next adventure on this journey we call life. For some, that next adventure may be hundreds of miles away. For others, it may be just down the road.

Some of us will live life in the fast lane, cruising on along from destination to destination with ease. Others will cruise on in the travel lane steadily, going about their lives; others might find themselves in the breakdown lane at different points in their life, and who knows? We might even ride a bike from time to time.

But, regardless of where we go, what we do, and who we become, there will always be a piece of La Salle Academy with us. Somehow, someway, we’ll be able to take 23 detours in life before finally finding our way back to La Salle Academy, because regardless of how we choose to lead our lives, we can always find our way back home.

La Salle has given us the most incredible friends, knowledge, memories, and a family we can call our own. I will be forever grateful for my second home, a place filled with such joy and life.

From the bottom of my heart, I’m so lucky and grateful to have gone to school with each and every one of you. It is the people that make this place special. Thank you La Salle for being our second home.

To the underclassmen, The A is in Good hands..make us proud.

To my classmates..It’s a big world out there…Lets go explore.

Dear God, we thank you for giving us La Salle Academy and our teachers, friends, and family. May we continue to carry a piece of the Academy with us forever. We have been given the most incredible gift– we can always come back home.  Amen.

St. John Baptist de La Salle…Pray for us.

Live Jesus in our hearts…Forever.