By Emily Kim ’18
Class of 2018.
Congratulations, my friends.
We have made it to the final act of the movie we all starred in called: The Punahou Experience. I am a huge movie fanatic and I know that what makes a movie great is a great story.
Let’s take a look at ours.
Act 1: The setup.
This is the introduction of the situation and the characters. We all remember our first day at Punahou and the simpler days of carefree living, when our biggest worries consisted of what cool kendama tricks we can master and how many silly bands we can collect. Then we entered …
Act 2: The conflict.
Every story has a conflict that drives the plot, it’s the challenge the characters must face to achieve their goals. During our years in the Academy, perhaps the largest conflict we struggled with was figuring out who we are. What gives us joy? What do we value? What sets our souls on fire?
Punahou has granted us the ability not to find ourselves. But to create ourselves. The vast range of courses allowed us to explore our passions, from computer sciences to creative writing to glass blowing.
The opportunities were infinite. We grew inside and outside of the classroom, learning empathy as we felt each other’s pain during finals, collaboration as we rehearsed to put on the best variety show and lipdub ever, engaged in citizenship as we broke records during carnival and for being the singiest class to exist! Now here we are …
Act 3: The resolution.
Not all of us may know exactly who we are yet or what we want out of life but if there’s one thing we all, for certain, identify with, it is our class. We are the talented, diverse cast in the most incredible movie.
And as the credits begin to roll, we must thank our teachers, parents, and each other for the best years of our lives, thus far.
Just like any great movie, there will be a sequel and that movie will be called College & Beyond. We will find ways to celebrate our first-time experiences with new friends and overcome the bumps we encounter along the way, without Moose for comfort or the boat for socializing- or more importantly for boat ball. But for now, let’s not think about what’s ahead of us.
Let’s focus on right here, right now with all of us together.
As my favorite movie character Ferris Bueller reminds us, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Thank you.