Homecoming and Convocation Speech

Well, it's here. The morning of my arrival back home. I'm not sad yet. Just anxious. I know I'll be sad as I start seeing my friends leave the ship for the last time. They won't even look back. Everyone is excited to go home. Some, more so than others. Other emotions/feelings some are experiencing right now is apprehension, exhaustion, happiness, heartbreak, sadness, peace...it's a gauntlet of emotion right now. How am I feeling? Eager, anxious, hopeful, scared...that's just a few of them...

Last night was Convocation; a formal goodbye to everyone and a congratulations to the graduating seniors. I was chosen out of ten students to give a speech in front of the entire shipboard community. I will post my speech for you all to read. The minute I received an email from the administration saying that students may submit a speech to read at convocation, I jumped on the opportunity. I don't even like public speaking, but I had this urge to get up there in front of everyone and let them in on my thoughts and feelings. Thank you to Gretchen, and my mom, and Mrs. Sikanowicz for the quick tips and suggestions...they gave me that "bang" I needed. I hope you enjoy reading it just as much as I did when giving my speech...

-Amanda

Good evening, my fellow shipmates, professors, faculty, and staff:

Today is not only December 13^th, 2008, but it is the eve of our final port of call. Miami. To many of us, the United States is our home, but to some, it is a short layover before heading back to their home countries. It is the eve of our final goodbyes to our fellow shipmates who we have all grown close to over the last three and a half months. It is the eve of a brand new chapter in the book of our lives. It is the eve of the first day that we can all truly become the change that we want to see in this world.

Tomorrow we will hesitantly close one door, and open another. On August 29^th, our lives as we knew them ended as we boarded the ship for the very first time, and now life as we’ve known it over the past few months will be ending as we walk off the gangway for the very last time. To some, this may be one of the saddest nights that they can remember, and to others, this may be the happiest of nights because they know they will see their family, friends, and loved ones tomorrow for the first time in three months. There will undoubtedly be tears, as their have already been, when we say goodbye to people who we’ve grown close to and to friends who may very well be in our lives forever. We will shed happy tears as we remember all the indescribable things that we have done, places that we have visited, and world wonders that we have seen with our own two eyes. We will also shed tears of sadness as we realize that we will never again be able to repeat the mental, emotional, and physical journey we have just completed.

It is important for us to remember that although the door to this time in our lives is closing, it will never be bolted shut. We are allowed to revisit the memories that we have, the emotions that we have felt, and the questions we have asked ourselves over the course of this semester. We are allowed to bring all that we have learned with us on to the next stages of our lives, wherever this may be.

Although each and every one of us had a unique experience on Semester at Sea, we all have a lot in common. We’ve all circumnavigated the globe, survived a countless number of time changes, experienced life at sea, gained a greater appreciation for the world and all its inhabitants, realized that we have privileges and advantages that many people only dream of, and that we need to stop taking the littlest things in life for granted because we are not guaranteed another day here on Earth.

Whether you came on Semester at Sea to live life to the fullest, to escape a broken heart back home, to travel the world, or to simply prove to yourself that you can survive being away from home for three and a half months, you will now be going home a different person than you were that very first day back in August. You may not be able to describe what Semester at Sea was like to all the people who ask you “How was it?” and don’t feel like you are the only one. Every single one of us will be going through the same thing. Pictures, videos, and blogs will never be able to explain what it was like to see a starving woman laying in the train station in Delhi, almost certainly praying for death to come quickly, and not being able to do anything for her. Words won’t be able to describe what it was like to smell the Indian air as it wafted in through the gangway doors, or what it was like to climb to the top of a mountain in Lencois and feel as small as a single drop of water in the Pacific ocean, or to visit the War Remnants Museum in Saigon and feel so much emotion and pain that you became physically sick from anguish.

Although you know you are a different person than you were when you left, you may not be able to understand how. It may not become apparent to you in the first few days home, or the next few weeks, or even in the coming months, but I can guarantee that other people will notice. You will see things in a unique way, hear things that you were never aware of before, and think in a manner that may surprise you at first. Most of our friends and family will never be able to understand or appreciate the things that we do now, so we have to remember each other. Stay in touch with the friends you’ve made, call them when you need to talk about Semester at Sea because everyone else can’t take listening to your stories any more, or go visit them. A six-hour car-ride is nothing anymore…

Always remember the humility you felt while visiting the townships in South Africa, the anger you felt when learning the truth about the Viet Nam war, the happiness you felt when giving a notebook to an orphan in Cambodia, and the heartbreak you felt when learning of Kurt’s death. All these events have changed us. Never forget them. Remember…this isn’t the end, it’s only the beginning…Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our lives, our chance to make a mark in this world…to give back for everything that has been given to us.

Thank you.