For those of you who do not know me, I know what you are thinking. What kind of speech is Mitch Barefoot going to give? And the answer is..., a short one!

First of all, I would like to say that when I first moved to DeLeon in the middle of my sophomore year, I was surprised to feel so welcomed and accepted by my class. I believe that says a lot about the Senior Class of 2008.

It was hard to come up with something to say to an already perfect class. I was thinking that sometimes the most obvious thing to say would be the most meaningful. I am here to tell you this: Happiness plus hard work equals success.

First, be happy. To achieve this so simple yet hard feat, you must do what makes you happy. Give yourself plenty of reasons to wake up in the morning. Do not let yourself be miserable in any aspect of your life. Only you know what makes you happy, so do not rely on other people to make the major decisions in your life. Put your heart into everything you do. You have to be passionate about things in your life. You accomplish things only when you really care about what you are doing.

Second, work hard. Planning and achieving goals and give that much more will help you achieve your dreams. Goals are important because they move you from one step to another without letting you fall off the path. They are a guide. Each small goal is just a building block to the ultimate goal: success.

Of course, we cannot do any of this without God, so let us thank him for the accomplishments, memories and relationships he blessed us with. Let us also thank the parents, teachers, administration and coaches for their hard work and determination towards our education.

I do not know if anyone happened to read our class motto, so I am going to read it out loud. "We cannot discover new oceans unless we have the courage to lose sight of the shore."

With that said, I have one last hooray for my fellow classmates: Let's set sail.

Thank you.