Sienna completed the entire curriculum. This is her graduation speech:
Good evening Ladies and Gentleman,
Wow. I can’t believe it has been nearly a year since I started Shine. Time sure does fly. When I started my Shine journey nearly a year ago, I had no idea where it would take me. Now, I can confidently say I am so much more confident and proud of who I am today. Thank you Ms Anderson, for putting in so much depth, meaningfulness and time into every lesson you teach us. You are the most kind, wise person I know and you always care so much about me and my peers. On the subject of peers, I would like to thank my classmates for making me laugh and smile at nearly every opportunity and making Shine so much fun. I would also like to thank my parents for driving me to and from Shine every Tuesday and providing me with this wonderful opportunity to grow and learn.
One of the most powerful lessons I have been taught at Shine is to stop asking myself “why is this happening to me?” and start asking myself “what is this here to teach to teach me?” This is a more mentally healthy way of looking at situations, and you can truly learn something from nearly every scenario. Another extremely valuable lesson I have been taught is that worrying does absolutely nothing. The antidote to worrying is getting up and doing something.
My favourite game that was played at Shine was the True or False Game. As well as being fun, this game taught us general knowledge and facts about the world.
Shine has given me power. Power to say no, power to say thank you for the feedback, and the power to be myself.
Shine has taught and shown me so many valuable life lessons and knowledge I will take with me and remember for the rest of my life. So, for the final time, good evening and good night.