Submitted by Kamal Farhat

Mercedes Farhat, with her parents, Chris and Kamal, and sister Louisa at her Lely High graduation on Friday. Mercedes gave a speech at the graduation that was chosen from senior entries to be given at the ceremony.

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It seems that Mercedes Farhat is everywhere this last month.

The Eagle asked Ken Fairbanks, Lely High School principal, for a student that is representative of the entire student body. He chose Marco Island’s Farhat.

His response was before her speech, one of three, was chosen to be given at the high school graduation on May 23.

It was before she learned she will represent her dad’s home land, Libya, in the summer Olympics in Beijing, China, in August.

The 18-year-old graduated with nearly 20 college credits completed and finished in the top 10 of her class. She might also be considered a flag waiver for Lely and its diverse student body as she spoke about in an article in the Eagle’s etc publication.

Before Lely, she was known for swimming, but she became more.

“Lely gave everyone the opportunity to be more,” she said. “Before I went to Lely I just did swimming. I got to Lely and the spirit, the friendships, you just felt like you could try anything. I joined Chemistry Club, Key Club, the Honor Society.”

She said the teachers played major roles in helping student development.

“We had teachers that liked kids, they didn’t say ‘Get away from me.’ It was more like what could they do for us, how could they help.”

Farhat gives John Dwyer, an Advanced Placement English teacher, high marks.

“I never met someone who knows so much about English,” she said. “The fist time I took my SAT, my score was 550. After two months with Mr. Dwyer I jumped up to 650. It seemed every other week we did research and wrote an essay. I first got a C, but got better, learning how to read to understand to write well. I don’t think I’ll be lost in a college class because I learned how to work hard.”

Also an inspiration to Farhat was Carl Kolling, Lely swim coach. Mercedes, her sister Louisa and Wesley Blassneck, had been swimming together for years at the Marco YMCA when they got to Lely.

“He always motivated us,” she said. “Even our last relay race together after three years, he still knew how to get us enthused. He told us to ‘race this one for old times sake.’ I started crying.”

She is going to the University of Florida with an urging to be an anesthesiologist.

“I like the idea of taking people’s pain away,” she said.

Here is her speech that she gave at graduation:

Graduation. According to the dictionary, graduation is “the award or acceptance of an academic degree or diploma.” But is that really all there is to it? I’d say that Merriam-Webster has never been more wrong. Sure, graduation is represented by the acceptance of a diploma, but graduation is so much more than a simple ceremony. It is the culmination of 12 years of hard work, friendships and little moments to never be forgotten. To each person here, this graduation means something different.

To the teachers, this is the time when you say your last good-byes to the students you’ve taught the past four years.

You may remember us as freshman, sitting down in your classroom for the first time, still sun-kissed from a summer at the beach and carrying a map to guide us through the school’s labyrinthine hallways.

You may remember the hours you spent getting to know us through our work, grading our papers and probably wishing we had written a little more legibly. Maybe you’re remembering the fun we had experimenting through labs, or joking around as we went over homework.

Each year you instill in a group of kids a knowledge that they didn’t have the year before. You pour your heart into teaching them, not only about history and math, but about life and the future. You are probably hoping right now that as they walk across the stage they are taking with them your words and teachings, planning to apply them to their future.

To the parents here tonight, this graduation means a new step in your lives, as well as that of your child. You’re no longer the parents of a high school teenager, but the parents of a well-educated adult. You may be reminiscing about walking your baby to the first day of kindergarten, and watching them stare up at you with admiring eyes, hoping to one day be as smart as you.

You may be thinking of the times you’ve shared with your child and the moments you’ll remember when they’re off at college; teaching your little boy how to fish, or having a dolly tea party with your precious daughter. Or maybe you’re remembering your high school graduation, how you felt walking across the stage to your future, and realizing that the whole world was at your feet.

To the parents of a graduate tonight it means letting go, learning to trust and having faith that the last 18 years of your teachings have prepared your child for a future full of success.

To the graduates, tonight means the most. As you walk across the stage you remember the last 12 years that your diploma represents. You’ll think of your first day of high school, coming down the winding road that is Lely High School Boulevard and using a map to navigate the way to your classes.

Maybe you’ll remember that night sophomore year when we packed into the visitors stands at Naples High School and cheered our team onto a Coconut Bowl victory.

Or junior year when we raised money to support one of our classmates diagnosed with cancer.

And then there’s senior year when we all seemed to bridge our gaps and come together as a class. The class of 2008.

It seems remarkable that this long-awaited day is finally here; 2008 used to seem so far away, but has finally come and so has the time to lock up our high school memories and step forward with our lives.

Tonight we are all the same. As we step up on stage with our cap and gown and leave with our diploma we all step out into the same world.

You will no longer be judged by what you have done, but by what you will do. And every decision you make will lead you down a new road, sometimes a one-way street.

If I had to pass on one word of advice to my class it would have to be that time never stops, it never slows down, and it never pauses to wait for you to catch up.

Time is the one thing in life that is equal for everyone, and from now on it’s what you make of that time that will determine who you are.

We are all fireworks, carefully constructed to serve a certain purpose in the show as a whole. We have been created and filled with the colors of knowledge and excellence; we now await the chance to burst out of our shells.

Our diplomas are the fire to ignite us. As we walk off this stage and away from Lely High School tonight, we will light those fires and shoot out to reign over the world.

I encourage you to never be afraid to glow with brilliance and show your colors, because the world is waiting to see you shine.