[Kiersten Ellefsen is one of the six honor graduates in the Goshen Central High School Class of 2009. The following is the text of the commencement address she delivered on June 26, 2009.]

Good evening. As we continue to progress into an era dominated by Blackberry’s, mP3’s, and iPods, my hope is that we always live our lives on shuffle. Curveballs will be thrown at us, and we won’t know what the next track will have in store. The transition from high and low points in our lives will be as inevitable as a moment’s switch from T-Pain to Josh Groban. The variety of music the soundtrack of our lives will represent illustrates the complex lives we’re going to live. To just let play whatever song life has in store for us next is to accept life’s attempt to test our ability to dance no matter what. To try to hand-pick each song in perfect and predictable sequence is to remove the beauty of surprise that life has to offer. Limiting ourselves to one artist or playlist will cause us to miss out on great music. As we begin our lives as independent adults, let’s accept all songs that flow through the headphones, and remember that our favorite tracks are somewhere out there in the line-up. We will always have something to look forward to. I guess I can sum up my message with song titles from my iPod.

Class of 2009, my generation—what’s the name of the game? Graduation, remember the name. It’s times like these that make us look somewhere beyond the sea and over the rainbow, and discover the spirit in the sky. We are the youth of the nation, and we’re all in this together…this is our time to make the sweet escape and find the eye of the tiger. So let your spirit soar, no matter what you are. Whether you’ve mambo no. 5’d your way through high school or you simply can’t wait to get off this crazy train, realize how sweet it is to be defying gravity and breaking free from this moment. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and although high school has hit us with its best shot, we are the champions. Look out world, we, ’09, will rock you. We’ve been signed, sealed, and delivered, and now we can touch the sky. It’s been anything but a slow wind, but finally it’s our time now. Many the miles you’ll travel, world towns you may see, but never say “bye bye bye” to Goshen—keep this community as part of your world. So let’s get loud, Class of 2009. Don’t stop believing, and remember: no one on the corner has swagga like us.