No better way to sum up the Graduation than sharing the amazing valedictorian speech written and presented by Katie Hunter and Leah Parfitt

What a year.

In our time at Hillmorton, we have had both change and continuity. There’s always been things we can count on here. We can always guarantee multiple false fire alarms when it's freezing cold outside, the existence of Cool Maths Games.com and Ms Brokenshire tearing up during her annual prize giving speeches.

There’s also been a lot of change. For those of us who began in Year 7, we will remember the days when the canteen was good and we were buying Moosies every day. Now, we’re being served butter chicken salad and strange vegetarian meatballs from unknown origins for lunch. Using a phone here is a thing of the past. Quite a few of us have been here longer than some of the teachers. And we’ve changed, I hope. We’ve grown, both in height and in character.

Unarguably though, the biggest change was the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 has been such a prevalent force for our year group that it has to be mentioned. We haven’t had the typical high school experience that we all thought we were going to get, especially as we are the first, and potentially only year (touch wood) to have all three of our NCEA years disrupted by COVID. I’m confident that many of us would agree that three years of NCEA is difficult enough without multiple lockdowns and the risk of catching COVID dangling over our heads.

While I believe that it is essential that we take a moment to acknowledge the setbacks that we have faced, I also think that this is a time to commend the Year 13s for their achievements and resilience in all areas. At a time when we have faced constant disruptions and challenges, we have seen our year group succeed numerous times in the previous few years. We have four Year 13 students who have received full scholarships to the University of Canterbury and multiple others who have gained scholarships to universities all throughout the country for 2023. Many of us worked hard to organise house and extracurricular events that could go ahead during restrictions. However, as we congratulate our prizewinners and graduates tonight, let us also commemorate the small personal achievements that have been made this year, the ones that are rarely seen and acknowledged. This year, the Year 13s have faced physical, emotional, and mental challenges - the ones we all face at this age, as well as those that have been caused by added stresses of COVID. Simply getting up in the morning and getting to class has been an achievement. Handing in assessments has been an achievement. Deciding to continue to make an effort during such unprecedented times is an achievement. Every one of the Year 13s here tonight should be so immensely proud of themselves.

On behalf of the graduating class, I would like to extend our gratitude to the teachers and staff who have not only tolerated us and our sarcastic sense of humour, but who have worked tirelessly to ensure our successes throughout the years. Thank you to the teachers for adapting to a completely new style of learning, for compiling resources and learning materials, and for supporting us in a time where you were also under constant pressure, and to the senior leadership staff for their efforts in maintaining normality. Thank you to the relief teachers who have ensured that we have spent as much time as possible in class - not all schools have been as fortunate as us with this.

I would also like to extend our thanks to the family and friends that have supported us. It must be difficult enough raising a teenager, and even more difficult being stuck inside with said teenager for a couple weeks. In all seriousness, thank you for supporting us as we transition into adulthood.

To the graduating Year 13s - wherever you end up in this next chapter of your lives, I encourage you to surround yourself with good people. There’s a whakataukī that says “He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata” What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people. People suck a lot of the time. We hurt each other. But we also lift each other up. We support each other in times of need, we laugh together, we cry together, we share kai, we share stories, we share our lives. There are people out there who will encourage you and love you and hold you accountable. Find them and hold them tight, because it’s those people who make life precious.

While many of us are heading in different directions, from tertiary education to apprenticeships to working, we have proven that we have the dedication and resilience that will allow us to succeed, no matter what we pursue in life. Our time together has been up and down, but I think that it is safe to say that we have become closer in our final years and that we have all met people that have improved our lives. While I’m sure that many of us are glad to finally graduate and to finally pursue the paths that we have chosen, this is a bittersweet time. We are leaving a place that has had a massive impact on our formative years, a place that has shaped who we are, and we are saying goodbye to the people whom we’ve grown up with. Some of us may never see each other again, which for some is difficult, and others is a relief. But no matter your feelings towards leaving, my hope is that you leave with a sense that this school and community will always back you. In the wise words of Rick Astley, “never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you.”

Congratulations to the class of 2022