Class of 2020: Coalinga High School
Coalinga High School 2020 Graduation Speeches
Speaker: Cameron McFarlin
If I have learned anything from the pandemic and the tragedies it has brought, it is that uncertainty is a trait of life that we will never conquer or evade. When I first dedicated my education to becoming the best student possible, it was not because I wanted to give myself the best chance to succeed in life. Rather, I saw a Valedictorian’s speech in the third grade, and decided that I too wanted to stand in front of my community and talk to my people when it was my turn to graduate. I sacrificed time with my friends and family, lost hours upon hours of sleep and rest, and in the end, the trophy that I was to win, the ability to have a thousand faces looking at me as I deliver a speech that I prepared for years, is gone.
Luckily, I found value in education beyond clout a long time ago, and I have thus accepted these new arrangements with little suffering. But my experience during this pandemic has brought with it a realization: a belief that the future will be a certain way does not mean it must. While most of us understand that we cannot predict tomorrow, we often find the routines of life so comforting as to enforce a belief that everything we value today will be just as valuable a month from now, a year from now, and a decade from now. Yet in just six months of our discovery of one virus, our entire lives have seemingly been put on hold, and our core beliefs put into question. Young, hopeful companies have crumpled under restrictions and job loss, while entire industries like that of movie theaters, are fearing their collapse. It is evident that the future is unclear; the window that we use to view it is opaque, and while we may have fooled ourselves into believing that we can see through it, we are most often hopelessly unequipped to handle such drastic changes in the system as the catastrophe we are face today.
Our political system, though powerful, is weakening. Decades of partisan politics have led to a severe distrust in our government and politicians, leading to the election of a career celebrity, Donald Trump. Meanwhile, a distrust for the news and science have led to anti-vaccination movements, despite the fact that without the vaccine for just one contagious disease, over a million people have died around the world. In the clearest example of the rich benefiting from the suffering of the poor, Jeff Bezos is currently profiting at a rate that, if maintained, would lead to him becoming the first trillionaire of all time, while billions globally are losing their only sources of income, and facing poverty. Yet the media has blinded us all with celebrities singing songs in their million dollar homes, and suburban dads shaving their kids heads, all the while chanting “we’re all in this together!” Not only are we allowing ourselves to be tricked, we are encouraging it, by focusing our time and energy on celebrity worship, and consumerism.
Regardless of your political or ideological alignment, it is clear that the values of our nation have shifted away from independence, sacrifice, and equality, as we instead put economics and industry before the lives of those suffering for the production of our luxuries. What makes the United States a better country than any other? Where is the “American Dream” today? The social movements of the 20th century brought us to where we are now, but who’s to say that we are a finished product? Sure, child labor is illegal in the United States, and environmental regulations help prevent the pollution of our own resources, but these rules are inconsequential if our richest companies ship their labor to China, where children make iPhones for ten cents an hour, and trash and waste are dumped straight into the Yangtze river. In an age where we are all so incredibly connected, where we depend on the behaviors and actions of so many other nations for the maintenance of our economies and ecosystems, an age where information is so readily available, accessible, and visible, our society continues to operate under “out of sight, out of mind.”
The generations before us laid the groundwork for the world we live in today. The social movements of the 1920’s, 60’s, and the early 2000’s gave our workers rights and unions, gave women suffrage, fought the evils of racism and segregation, and decided that sexuality and gender are not to be the basis of discrimination. Today, our people are better off than they were yesterday, but who are we to say that we have made it to the finish line? A new line has been drawn in America, one between the rich and the poor, with the throat of the middle class strewn across the two territories. Geniuses like Jeff Bezos deserve success for their efforts, I cannot deny that, but when do we decide that enough is enough? When do we decide that a man worth more than entire countries has gone too far? When do we decide that the rich are not the ruling class, that they are not ordained by some god to subvert the power of those below them, that they are not, inherently, superior people to us?
We have accepted, for too long, that the world is the way it is, and that it cannot be changed. We have accepted that the rich are the rich, and the poor are the poor, and that it is meant to be this way. We have accepted that billionaires deserve every penny they have, and any donation, no matter the size, is a blessing from our humble owners to us retched dogs. This ideology is wrong, we deserve a slice of the pie. Without the millions of poor families in the US alone, the fast food companies, and gasoline companies, and supermarket companies, and delivery companies, and every other commodity that the wealthy have gorged themselves on would have no revenue stream. We are the consumers and the providers, we fill the booths and staff the kitchens in the same restaurants, while those above us take their cut. We make the economy, not them, and our suffering reflects that. It’s not a coincidence that Jeff Bezos is profiting from a delivery service when everyone is stuck at home, while his workers experience few improvements in their conditions. It’s also not a coincidence that almost every other industry in America is suffering.
We wield the sword of policy. We choose who has the power in this nation, but if we continue to accept that that power belongs to the rich, then we will inevitably forfeit it all. For the sake of our future, I encourage you all to educate yourselves. I encourage you all to learn your values, to find the niche that you can fill, to speak out against atrocities, regardless of how many people remain silent. And I encourage you to encourage others to do the same. Simple choices today, like living a sustainable lifestyle, investing, limiting our waste and consumption, and speaking out against the organizations we disagree with will empower and embolden us and our efforts. These minor adjustments in lifestyle will send ripples through the culture, creating generations of productivity and strength. Centuries from now, our actions will fill the history books, and the side of progress and change will undoubtedly find itself populated by the protagonists of our efforts today. Will we fight for more rights, and become the generation that shifts the needle towards progress and innovation? Or instead, shall we allow those in power to siphon away those rights, until the poor become destitute, and the rich, gods? Tomorrow is not guaranteed, but what we do today can help steer this ship in the right direction.
Principal’s note
They say that time brings wisdom, I tend to disagree. Not that I haven’t seen a lot of time pass as I have known some of you or your families for generations, but that wisdom truly comes from experiences. The Class of 2020 has experienced some unique challenges already in their young lives, some difficult.
If I was to gift upon you anything it would be two things. A life full of experiences that bring joys and challenges, and love. A full life continually fills your emotional tank. A full life provides you with feelings and memories that can never be taken away. A full life gives you the skills to grow, adapt, and thrive, not only for yourself, but for those that you love.
Love is such a powerful thing the ancient Greeks had three or four different words for it. I ask that you love your fellow man. A difficult world needs you and all the love we can collectively muster. Love your family as they are the only family many will ever have. Love your classmates. The crew you see when you look around will be the only Class of 2020 Coalinga High will ever have and whether that is good or bad, time will tell. Lastly, love yourselves. Live a life where you respect yourself, honor your accomplishments, be proud of who you are, because as your Principal, I certainly am.
Jim Allen
Superintendent’s note
Hello Coalinga High School Class of 2020. My name is Lori Villanueva and I am very proud to be your superintendent. You’ve been through a lot in the last 18 years. When you were first born, the country was still reeling from 9/11. And in 2003, believe it or not, the first Coronavirus hit the world known as SARS. In 2004, Facebook was invented and in 2005, YouTube started. In 2006, the verb “togoogle” was actually added to the dictionary. The first IPhones came out in 2007 and SnapChat actually started back in 2007, and in 2016 TikTok came out.
During your lifetime the “cloud” was invented; and I mention these things because they mark how fast our world and how fast technology changes and you are a child of the generation of change. Since you’ve been born, things have moved at lightning speed and you’ve adapted and you’ve adjusted and that is what is going to give you your greatest strength as you go out into the world because what we need right now are people that can adapt to change and people that can see that the world does change and see ways to make the world a better place.
I have very high hopes for you; that you are going to go out there and take all of these experiences that you have had, and your openness and your ability to deal with change, and go out there and change the world, make it a better place for everyone. We are counting on you, Class of 2020.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and myself, I wish you the very best and I can’t wait to see the amazing things that you are going to go out in the world and do.
So, for now, I say goodbye and I bid you adieu, good luck and we will see you back at CHUSD very soon.
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 12:00 AM.