Alumnus Timothy “TJ” Haymond was the commencement speaker at Meeting Street Elementary & Middle – Brentwood’s eighth-grade promotion ceremony. The following are his remarks from the event.
Good evening everyone and congratulations to the future class of 2030. My name is Timothy Haymond Jr. I attend Early College High School, and I am finishing up my junior year of high school. But I still do remember these moments, when I started kindergarten in 2015 at Meeting Street Elementary & Middle – Brentwood. When the school had just reopened and we were the Meeting Street trees instead of the bulldogs, there were only three classes: two kindergarten classes, the gamecocks and the bulldogs, and one first-grade class. Leaving Brentwood was such a surreal experience. I remember walking into my eighth-grade graduation, and every parent, teacher and staff member screaming because we did it. We made it. We finished middle school, and we were off to high school. As I sit back and reflect on my past graduation, I would like to share three crucial lessons with you that keep me going even now:
1. Comparison is the thief of joy.
2. Achieving your goals is possible, but it takes hard work.
3. High school is hard, but you are prepared for this.
One of the biggest lessons I learned is that comparison can make you lose sight of what makes you special. I do remember times when my experience was hard, when I compared myself to the people who had more than me, such as money, shoes, clothes, or smarts, or people who were in better shape, or even had the spotlight on them instead of me. An example of this is when I was on the Meeting Street basketball team, and people were way better than me and getting so much more attention than me. When I put these thoughts in my head, they did more than hurt; they transformed my personality into trying to be like the people I deemed cool or better than myself.
But that all changed when I met Jesus Christ, and I found this verse, Genesis 1:27: “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” And it hit me. I am different, and I was made to be different for a reason. I was never meant to be like the people around me. That would take away my uniqueness, and it was never meant to be that way. I understand that sometimes in certain situations, you may look at the next person and wish that you had what they had. But, friends, you were made to be different and to make a difference, not to be the same. You know, there is an old saying that comparison is the thief of joy. This truly has been a help in high school, mostly because there are many people who want to be the same, but when you focus on being who you are, you will continue to grow for the better.
Another important thing I have learned is that you don’t achieve your dreams by accident. Now, as you go into high school, I know that many of you have dreams, dreams that you want to achieve. Personally, my dream in high school is to achieve a 4.6 GPA by graduation. But I know this isn’t just a one-day thing. I know that my goal takes time, but it also takes dedication to focus in class even when it’s boring, or taking my time in school, or even embracing an uncomfortable situation. This has to be a daily thing, and believe me, it’s not easy. Sometimes I catch myself just doing things to pass by, but I will never reach where I want to be if I continue to do that. I will stay at a standstill, and I won’t reach the result that I want. But you have to make that choice to get where you want to be. Achieving my goal of a high GPA won’t just help me in high school. But with many colleges looking at this and many job opportunities opening up, this can also help with my tuition. But I have to choose to achieve this goal. By trusting in God, working hard, and getting help when I need it, and by removing things that hinder me. All of us have dreams, and I want to let you know that it’s good to dream, but remember that dreams aren’t possible without hard work. And just because the presentation may seem hard, it’s not impossible. You can do it.
High school won’t be easy, but the lessons you learned at Brentwood have prepared you for this. Now I know you already have had Signing Day and have chosen the school you are going to attend next year and are probably excited and nervous. I understand; I was definitely there. At Early College High School, I am a Tiger ambassador, a member of the student government and I am also a member of North Charleston High School’s football, track and wrestling team. When I was in eighth grade, I expected high school to be like the movies, where it’s just easy, and everyone gets along. But high school is another challenge in your life, that will try to shape you for the better. I really wish somebody had told me that this is another challenging chapter in your life, but the best part about this is middle school helped prepare me.
I learned at Brentwood that sometimes you gotta leave your friends and make sure that you do what’s best for you. For example, in high school, I remember that I had a vocab quiz coming up. These quizzes used to be so hard. So knowing that I had trouble with these quizzes instead of just hanging out with my friends in Mr. Hunter’s room, my biology teacher, and not getting my work done and getting distracted, I decided to go off on my own and study in the library using Quizlet as a tool and memorizing the definitions and the words. I ended up doing significantly better on those quizzes and started passing them. High school does present certain challenges, but you won’t just enter with nothing. Your teachers at Brentwood prepared you for this. Those conversations or lessons you’ve learned from teachers, use what you’ve learned. They may just seem like words, but they light something in you that you didn’t know you had in you. You may think these teachers are being hard on you, but they love you and want what’s best for you. Don’t just listen to these words, keep them, because at certain times these words can keep you standing when you least expect it.
I can thank all the teachers and staff who have been beside me and prepared me for high school. High school man, I feel so blessed even to be able to attend Early College High School. I wanna thank every teacher and every friend who actually cared about me and wanted the best for me, and most importantly, my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, and my Mom, who’s done so much for me. I would never be where I am today without them.
All in all, I want to leave you with this: whatever comes your way, you are not alone; you have been prepared for this. Whenever you are comparing yourself to others and not being grateful for how God created you, remember you are so unique. When you let this comparison rule your life and your heart, you let it ruin you. Even though high school is going to be a different experience and may not be what you expected, make sure that you still chase the dreams that you have in front of you. And remember that you can do it. You just have to choose it if you want to grab that dream and make it yours. And remember, you got this.
