CHSGRADUATIONThursday, June 9, 2011Page 1-C www.heritage.com

Kaitlin Connin “The Golden Rule still applies”

We’ve all learned plenty of things in high school, from how to integrate a func-tion to how to analyze a poem. We’ve memorized countless vocab words, conducted dozens of science experiments, and written at least as many essays. And while all of these things are useful and important, I think the lessons we learned in kinder-garten are the ones that really matter. When we were in elementary school, you might remember seeing a poster that said “All I really need to know learned in Kindergarten.” I remember looking at it and thinking, “Well duh, of course you shouldn’t hit people. Of course you should wash your hands before you eat.” But looking back now, I see the ultimate wisdom in those kindergarten lessons. So many of them were more than just attempts at producing non-barbarians. These are the life lessons we needed to get where we are today, and to become successful, happy adults tomorrow.

First, Play Fair: The Golden Rule still applies. If you treat other people how they would like to be treated, they will treat you in kind.

In kindergarten, that meant sharing your toys and taking turns. In high school, it meant doing your share of group projects and not spreading rumors. Playing fair will be just as important as we form future relationship. It’s not always easy to do, but when we play fair, we make friends, we find love, and we earn respect, and these are the things that make the world a happier place to live in.

Number two, Clean up your own mess: We all make mistakes. Nobody is perfect. The important thing is to accept that fact and take responsibility for your own actions. We’re going out into the real world, and our parents aren’t going to be there to pick up after us anymore. Our future problems will be more serious than the D plus you got on your biology quiz or the juice stain you left on the couch cushion. Whether it is overdue bills or a traffic ticket, the only way to learn and grow into bet-ter people is to deal with our problems, and fix our mistakes ourselves.

Number three, Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody: Again, we all make mistakes, but we have to take responsibility for them. When we were young, we had to apologize for pushing and hitting, and as we grew older, we grew less violent, but we were still hurting people. The fact is that from time to time, we will all disappoint

Logan Kelly “Building lasting relationships”

When I got up this morning, I got to thinking. Who would have guessed that a bunch of insecure bedwetting freshmen would turn into the phenomenal class we have today. And it made me remember my first experience as a freshman.

School had been going on for only a month or so and I was in the stairwell going back to class after getting something from my locker. As I turned to go down the stairs I saw him. Standing before me was a hulking redhead senior named Rusty. Rusty saw me before I could escape and throwing his books down called me out.“Hey, since we’re the only ones in here you know what has to happen right? WE GOTTA FIGHT!”

At that moment I saw my puny life flash before my eyes and thought “how can it be over so soon! Why must my life end like this?”

The Rusty let out a war cry. Then he picked up his books laughing and walked out, leaving me there unharmed. I remembered that and kept that tradition alive this year. I can’t even imagine the countless number of freshman that I have terrorized in my attempts to duel them in the stairwells. But enough about me, let’s talk about the class of 2011. The class of 2011 I’d go as far to say is the greatest class of all time.

Not to rag on the classes before us, but there just haven’t been a class like us. If you ever get a chance to flip through the various class photos out in the commons then you will probably notice the class with the majority of the guys wearing jerseys.

And I’m not just talking about 10 or 15 guys. I’m talking about over 30 dudes all wearing baseketball jerseys. Our class is like the fab five of Chelsea. We came in as freshmen and took over; we weren’t just a normal class. And as juniors and seniors it became obvious that we had changed the way people ress, act, and play sports. From wearing black high top Nike socks every day, to yelling “YO” in the halls, our class was always standing out. And you can believe dat. When it came to playing sports our class like everything else, dominated. During this past football season the football gods weren’t on our side. But during the season so many moments strike me as unique, bad and good.

From Mase dunking on the goal post after scoring a touchdown, to C Tait tossing fools like rag dolls, to gentle Connor Townsend fighting like Chuck Liddell even though he was concussed. And even though football was a big part of my life, I know that we have so many other sports where people excelled in our class. The track team this pas season sent a record number of athletes to the state meet, for both guys and girls. A moment that stood out for me during my track experience was seeing David Slusser aka “BIG SLUSS” run the fastest 200 in big man history. It was a Tuesday afternoon in the beautiful city of Ypsilanti and David Slusser had David Slusser had just finished throwing a school record 79 feet in shot and 220 feet in discus. Dave was feeling good and thought to himself “Why should the skinny kids get all the fun, I’m just as fast as they are, let me show them what I can do.”

So Sluss begged Master Swag to let him race with the fast kids, instead Sluss was forced to race the team’s fastest freshman T-Bone. Sluss borrowed Mason’s spikes and perpared to race. The race started with Sluss bursting out of his block and began to gain speed around the first curve. By this time the entire team had lined up to cheer for Sluss for they knew history was in the making.

As Sluss rounded the final 100 he let out a wary cry similar to that of his ancestor William Wallace. Sluss finished the race with a record time of 30.5 seconds.

Immediately after the race big Sluss put on an Oscar worth performance in the Company C production “One Voice.” What can I say the guy has good feet? Those are memories that you never forget

Now when it comes to movies A.T. knows what he’s talking about. I don’t know how many times I walked into the weight room to be confronted with news about that week’s newest blockbuster or hot new artist. Babitar, Conception, Shianna, Justin Fever and Miki Dinaj just to name a few.

But in all seriousness, nobody spends more time working to hep others than A.T. Every athlete in this room owes his or her athletic success to A.T., without him always pushing us to get better Chelsea would be just another average program, not one that beats Dexter in everything for like 50 years straight. And the only small school that can

2011Freedom of

speech

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Fast greens • Back-to-back par 5’s through mature hardwoodsLeague openings still available

Newage for junior rates – 20 and under!

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Play it at Hudson Mills Metroparkwww.metroparks.com • 734-426-0466

GAMEGAMEit’s yourit’s your

Fast greens • Back-to-back par 5’s through mature hardwoodsLeague openings still available

Newage for junior rates – 20 and under!