Good afternoon, my name is Maddie Andreasen, and I’m the president of the Class of 2026. I would like to start by thanking everybody for coming out and supporting these remarkable graduates. I can truly feel the unwavering support. 

Two weeks ago, I was asked to speak at graduation, so in my panic, I researched other honors essays. I came across Jaelyn Crocker's speech from the Class of 2022, and she reminded me about something. She reminded me why I'm envious of most of my classmates. To better understand why I would say that, we're going to take a walk down memory lane.

Eighteen years ago I was born in Houston, Texas to my loving parents Greg and Michele. Two years later, my little sister Izzy was born, who everyone will see cross the stage in a few years. After another year in Texas, we moved halfway across the world to a country in the Middle East called Dubai. Two years later we moved to Oman, where I lived for 6 years. There, I attended a private American school that had over 50 nationalities represented, and I was surrounded by different cultures and customs. I loved my time over there, but every summer my mom would pull us out of school three weeks early and we would return “home.”

Home is a funny word, it's similar to love - a four-letter word with much more feeling attached.  

My home was a little three bedroom house on a big plot of land in Whitefield, Maine. My home was the tree that my sister and I would spend hours exploring. My home was the wondrous craft room my grandmother had. My home was every 4th of July when my family members on my mom's side, and if you know the Barters and Brewers were not a small family, would sit and watch the parade that came by our house. My home was my uncle Cory's peanut butter and chocolate cake he always made the best. Maine was my way to get away, take a break from everything the normal school year brought, and though I was still young I knew that home existed in many forms outside of physical, but I still couldn’t help to feel like I was missing out on what Maine truly had to offer for me.

This changed in 8th grade, when I moved to Boothbay. As soon as I walked through those doors I knew it was my home. Maybe it's the way the water looks on a sunny day, or how the sun sets over Ocean Point, or the way we have more trees than people, but most of all it's the community. Whether I'm at Legion breakfast knowing I'll see a familiar face or beating Pier 1 in the bed races (shoutout Ronan, Titan, Izzy, and Olivia) I know that everyone is there for me.

I've lived many places, and as Dorothy says in The Wizard of Oz, there is no place like home, and Boothbay has proved time and time again that it is my home. The people that you are surrounded by in the crowd are living proof that these words aren’t just claims, almost every student here, has or is currently employed by a local business, there are people in the crowd right now who don't have a relative graduating but came to support their community, and we have had several events this year that have celebrated the achievements of everyone on this stage with me right now. You can't deny that Boothbay is a community not just a town being there for a neighbor is both the base rhetoric and we wear it with pride.

I am envious of my classmates because I am reminded that they had many years before me in the welcoming town that is Boothbay. They have shared stories about Y Arts, Camp Knickerbocker, and their time at BRES. I envy them because I know Boothbay and the community, and I love it. I know it might be annoying going into Hannaford thinking it's going to be a 5-minute trip and it turns into 30 minutes because you get talking to an Old Coach, an old teacher, an old employer or employee but that's special. There's nowhere else where you would be known so quickly just by a name or even a last name, and that's what makes it special.

I'd like to close with this with a thank you to Boothbay for being my home and to the class of 2026, congratulations you have done it and I'm so proud of every single one of you. I hope that as you move onto your busy lives, you take a moment to look back at all of the people that are cheering you on, and never forget that you have built everlasting bonds with lifelong friends. I know right now many of you are thinking “I can't wait to get out” as your parents probably once said when they were younger, but as you go into the world, remember that Boothbay will always be here to come back to, and the community will welcome you just as they did me.  

Boothbay is your home, and remember that you will always be the graduating class of 2026 at Boothbay Region High School. Thank you.