It’s good to be back in our happy place! Classes have started and we’re glad to begin on a happy note! Our Woodrose Student Council President, Raissa Escasa, welcomed everyone at the high school student assembly. Read her full speech here:
Good morning, High School! Hello to all the teachers, staff, and students here with us now and hello to everyone joining us virtually! Welcome back to school, I hope each of you had a restful and enjoyable summer break.
My name is Raissa Escasa, and I am your Student Council President for SY 2022-2023. It is both an honor and a blessing to be able to deliver this live in a place of familiarity that we all have missed so much.
I spent the last two years wishing for this. Wishing to see us on our campus grounds, to hear a teacher give a lesson right in front of us, to greet whoever we run into through the corridors, and just to feel at home again. A few of last school year’s events, like Family Day and the Year End Assembly, felt so surreal. Seeing all of that come alive felt wrong in a sense that we haven’t had it in so long, but so right that it brought us back to when things were “normal”.
Coming back to school, although hybrid, feels like a dream come true. The past two years were full of constant adjusting and adjusting and adjusting, I’m sure so many of us were tired of it. I know I was.
For the longest time I thought that coming back would make everything difficult about school disappear. That coming back would mean everything would be as we left it in 2020, that nothing will have changed since we last stepped out of these corridors. That isn’t true no matter how much we hope it will be. It will still be another year of adjusting and adapting. The hybrid setup is as new as online learning was to us, and we cannot pretend that it will not be met with difficulties and trials.
What hasn’t changed is the support we’ll find in one another and in your council for this school year. What hasn’t changed are these red brick walls that carry so much of each of us. What hasn’t changed is that we’ll keep trying our best to be the best version of ourselves yet again in the changing landscape.
Grade 7, I wish you the best of luck in entering this “new era”. As cliche as it sounds, high school is another chapter of your life and there is so much for you to learn! Stay open-minded and observant, and you’ll see yourself grow into your own person through the years. Grade 8 and 9, you’ve been in high school for a few years now but I’m sure you’re all so glad to be able to get the “real” experience this year in our building. I hope that you will continue to realize your potential and place in your batch as you’re reaching the middle of your high school years. Remember that you have so many supporting you. Now, Grade 10! You are now the oldest in Junior High! It’s a momentous year, and I remember
how I felt like I was getting so much older when I was your grade, but don’t be deceived! You still have so much ahead of you. I hope none of you will take this year for granted; It’s a big year with big decisions, but trust in yourselves in the way I believe in each of you. And to Grade 11, the newest members of Senior High! It’s going to be a tough year, and I understand that each of you are feeling stronger emotions now more than ever before. I hope you all remember that you have time, you can take it slow, and you do not need to feel as if the entire world’s weight is on you. Lastly, to my batch 2023, our seniors… look how far we’ve come, guys! It feels insane to think that within 10 months’ time, we will all be going our separate ways. But let’s not dwell on that right now, no need to panic haha! Saying that this year is going to be incredibly important to us is an understatement. Other than it being the year we’re scrambling over college applications and trying to survive, it is also our last year here in Woodrose. When I say that we should all make this year count, I’m not just talking about being sure we perform well and walk down this gym holding our diplomas. Make it count by making sure that you enter this school with your heads held high, and finish the year feeling content and empowered. Start strong and end strong, Batch 2023!
Now to all of you, let’s begin this new year with optimism and hope. Allow yourselves to expand and grow. Learn new lessons, make fond memories, and most especially, stay true to yourself through and through. I’m wishing you a fruitful and memorable school year and I look forward to serving my best for you all. Thank you and have a great rest of the week, everyone!