It is with great pride and humility that I stand before you here today. My path to this destination has been neither brief nor easy. I began taking Tae Kwon Do when I was enrolled in this very school ten years ago, at the age of seven, along side my brother David. It was never an easy endeavor to be a student at Wambua's Martial Arts, but with the aid and support of our classmates, we, a small but eager group of seven, stuck it out through the toils and numerous push-ups until we attained our black belts.

Most of our classmates followed the path of those who had gone before them. A discouraging as it was to see, more tan half of our fellow students disembarked for new horizons, cutting our group down to three. However, Jessica, David and I continued to learn and struggle for the next two years until we began to test for our second degree back belt. For any student, gaining their second degree is a formidable leap in itself, but for the tree of us we knew it was only the next step to our destination. For the next three years, Jessica, David, and I fought hard to continue learning, testing, and challenging ourselves until this moment where we stand before you tonight.

Though I take great pride in Tae Kwon Do, it is not the only source of pride for me. In additions to martial arts, I take great honor in my involvement in the Boy Scouts of America, where I hope to complete my rank as an Eagle Scout before my eighteenth birthday in December. Both of these activities stress honesty, courtesy, integrity, self-control, perseverance, and indomitable spirit. I hope that these are the foundations I take with me as I step into the future.