![]() “Kindness, compassion, empathy, respect and love are needles in society’s haystack of hate, anger and prejudice,” he said. It can be rather effortless to get caught up in the vanity and façade that we see others put on, but there is only one you, and this world needs your authenticity despite the abnormalities you suspect you hold.” “The great Ralph Waldo Emerson stated, ‘to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.’ Each of us come with uniquely different life experiences, view points and ideas that can change and shape our families, communities and the world that would be lost if we all decided to be ‘normal.’ Be unapologetically yourself, wear your quirks on your sleeve and show off your individuality with pride in opposition to what social media and society demands from you. “Starting today, I challenge each and every one one of you to be more like the class of 2023 and embrace the abnormal - 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year (or 366 days every leap year),” he said. Using the pandemic as an example for the abnormal, Toole urged his fellow graduates to “be unapologetically yourself.” Even with our unique circumstances, our class has flourished academically, athletically and artistically in these abnormal conditions.” “Despite the constant obstacles that were thrown our way, we have taken it as a challenge to push through and truly embrace the abnormal, and that is what I believe the Class of 2023 can be signified by. “Looking back on the Class of 2023’s high school years, it is quite evident we have not lived a normal year of high school,” Toole said. Junior year brought some normalcy back to the class, through testing and more in-person learning, but the pandemic was still present. “Additionally we navigated national racial unrest, an intense presidential election and the totally frightening murder hornets,” he said. Their sophomore year included social distancing, mask wearing and Google Meets. Eli Toole touched on the abnormal life led by the Class of 2023 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. ![]()
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