TROY ANN MOTT
Class of 2013 Valedictorian



VALEDICTORY ADDRESS

Like a hike into an unknown terrain, the journey of high school was arduous and unpredictable from the very first day. Everyday the journey started at the break of dawn and required new strategies and survival skills to ascend to the next level, ultimately to grade twelve, the pinnacle. Adopting the belief that people do not fail but strategies do, the class of 2013 found many creative and innovative ways to forge ahead. Although this journey took six years, we kept the faith and today we are able to say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED..

Protocol having already been established, a pleasant good morning.

Our commencement exercise has for its theme, 'The year of Faith', the theme of the Catholic Arch Diocese. Dictionary.com defines faith as the 'complete trust or confidence in someone or something.' The class of 2013 would agree that grade 12 required us to really extend our faith in God and faith in ourselves also. Gone are the days when reading, writing and arithmetic were the only subjects a student had to contend with in school. In this twenty-first century, the average student takes approximately ten subjects in school and in our Bahamian educational system, most of these subjects require coursework in the 12th grade. In retrospect, we can truly say faith played a major role in our success today.

This faith that has propelled us to reach this far is not necessarily innate. Those who come from Christian homes like myself, can attest to the fact that it was through the power of prayer, in particular our parents' prayers, that have helped us to reach this far. Our parents believed in us and invested thousands of dollars to afford us with quality education at this prestigious institution that teaches three essential things: goodness, discipline and knowledge. I wish to admonish my fellow graduates as we now leave our safe haven to face this not-so-kind world to remember the words of James 2:20 which declare that faith without works is dead. Our dreams and aspirations will not be handed to us on a silver platter. We may have all the faith in the world but without the requisite actions, ain't nothing happening for us. Let us therefore be mindful that even if the mind conceives it (whatever that 'it' may be) we must act upon 'it' to achieve 'it'. Let us never get distracted and loose sight of our goal. Therefore when the naysayers say no we can't, faith will say yes we can; when the haters say we are selling ourselves dreams, faith will say dreams can become reality. When the pessimists predict doom and gloom, faith will say a winner never quits and a quitter never wins. When the skeptics say who you think you are, faith will say I am blessed and highly favoured. In the words of Smith Wigglesworth, 'I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved only by what I believe.'

Ladies and gentlemen, approximately two years ago, I became a member of the Aquinas family, and the transition was very smooth due to the guidance and instructions from teachers and administrators and the warmth and friendliness of the students This is the culture of Aquinas and it had nothing to do with the fact that my mother is a teacher here. There are some memorable characters in this graduating class, too numerous to mention, that I will always remember. Let me see. There is dear old Giovanni who is always ready to accept a challenge. Whenever someone challenges Giovanni, he would begin with 'My Good Sir' and then proceeds to put that person right in his place. Then there is hard mouth Donniqua whose wit and powerful voice provide much theatre for us at times. As for Tristan, I see a future prolific speaker. Oh how he loves to use 'big words', trying so hard to be eloquent; unfortunately, he does not always succeed. Then we have Ms. Valene Dramaqueen Rolle who never seems to be out of character. Sophia on the other hand maintains that delicate balance. Yes, we have a lot of characters in our class and I wish I could tell you about everyone, but I know Ariel mind is on food right now so I have to hurry up before she starts getting miserable.

These diverse personalities in the class made the journey light-hearted at times. But on a serious note, the talent of this class will be one of its lasting legacy. From musical talent to athletics to hospitality, whatever you can think of , it is present in this class. Kirkwood, Tristan, Dominic, Maurice, Quinton , Justyn aka Poodle you are so musically talented. Carmiesha, our golden girl, we will all lay claim to fame when you become internationally renown like Debbie Ferguson. Donovan, our future chef, please do not take forever to open your restaurant , hint., hint, hint. Sophia and Valene, you are immensely talented, may you make it to Broadway some sweet day. Ladies and gentlemen, we are all talented dancers in this class. If you do not believe me, I refer you to our Harlem Shake video.

Although this class has made our principal proud on many occasions, there have been times when she was 'livid' with us. Two of those times were our 11th grade pot luck and our arrangement of our own prom. The common denominator in those instances is that we never told the Principal. With respect to the pot luck, I recall seeing students scrambling back and forth with coolers; some students brought pans of chicken, macaroni and even dessert. When Ms. Knowles discovered what was going on, students had to call their parents not to bring the food anymore. Ms. Knowles was most upset and correct me if I'm wrong class, I think that was the day the word 'livid' was birthed into our vocabulary and when everyone started to use the word. Another favourite word of Ms. Knowles is 'excellence'. Yes, Ms. Knowles, we will always remember that excellence is a habit.

Ladies and gentlemen, we will always be indebted to our teachers and administrators. All of these teachers sitting here today have been our first-aid kit and emergency blanket on this challenging journey. Senora Ali Gibson, although you never taught me , I just love your wit,  your infamous clap detention still has me quite amuse. Ms. Carolyn Johnson. We go way back. For those who do not know, Ms. Johnson taught Sophia, China, Sasha and me in grade three at St. Thomas More. I find Ms. Johnson to be so funny. If nobody else laughs at her jokes in Civics, she could always count on me to get a kick out of her jokes. Then we have the world's greatest history teacher, Mrs. Morrison. It was only ten of us in the class, but for some reason, it was so difficult to have all ten of us present for history. Well, Mrs. Morrison, look at the bright side, all ten of us are here today. Mrs. Bain, my first homeroom teacher at Aquinas, whom I will not put on blast for requesting her space in this speech., your space is automatic. You were a most kind and warm homeroom teacher, and I thank you. In Biology we do not only learn 'biological processes', but life lessons as well. Mr. Knight always reminded us, any chance he got, that a relationship is between a man and a woman. I never knew Mr. Smith was 'cool like dat' until I heard his ringtone, 'No One' by Alicia Keys. Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not mention Mrs. Mott, my mother, an A-1 English teacher, who made AP English so interesting and meaningful and mesmerized us with her vocabulary. Mother dearest, you are simply the BEST! -no bias intended.

Personally, I would like to thank my parents and family for their faith in me and their prayers that God would keep me and allow me to excel. My parents Troy and Jacqueline Mott practice whatever they preach, and they have always been outstanding role models for my brothers and me to follow. Thank you mommy and daddy, and to all my relatives, godparents and friends, thank you for your kind support.


In conclusion, my dear graduates, as we leave this academic institution, lets not forget what we have learnt here at Aquinas College. I encourage you all to hold on to your faith and never let it waver in spite of the vicissitudes of life. I leave you with this quote by Mary Manin Morrissey, 'You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith.'


Thank you.