By. Nida Merchant
Each member of the class of 2019 received a handshake and a diploma that sealed the end to their high school career as of May 25. With over 740 graduates, 376 of them with honors, the graduating seniors of North Gwinnett High School left the Infinite Energy Arena with great joy and excitement.
The graduating class in total had exceeded over $22 million in scholarship money (not including HOPE) and just the seniors at North compiled more than 42,000 community service hours, appointed one United States Air Force Academy student, and five students to be awarded ROTC scholarships, among many other accomplishments.
When the day finally arrived that some of North’s finest said their goodbyes to the school, Valedictorian Hyosang Kim delivered his departing message in a quite unique way.
“Today, I want to deliver a graduation speech that you all will remember for a while,” Kim stated before remaining silent for over a minute. Parents and students alike were confused as the Kim stood there without uttering a word.
After a painfully long minute, Kim finally broke the silence by stating, “Imagine if I stood here my entire speech without saying anything at all. Wouldn’t many of you feel like I wasted your time?“ He then asked us how much of our own day we spend in its full potential. In hindsight, that minute seemed quite small.
As the graduating class of 2019 joyfully threw their caps in the air after the last name was called, they all recounted one line the seniors at North Gwinnett High School have heard since day one: “This is only the Begin1n9”.
