opnet [OpNet] To Proffessor Ashnod... err... Continuum Girl.

[Sakurako Hino]

Remember that speech I had teased earlier this summer to you?

Well, I've FINALLY recovered the data file on the destroyed server I had been recovering from the island. Here it is.

Hello.

I am Sakurako Hino. As most of you may know, I am a Nova. But, I cannot help but return home to a place I do have warm memories of. I had been a student here for most of my High School career before my Eruption. It changed my life and has thrown everything around into a new mixture of color and lines like someone just taking a pallete of color and tossing it unto a canvas.

I can see that my eruption has, if only stretching for meaning, is like moving on to a new stage of life, which you seniors are about to do in a few days, and the rest of you in a few years. Your lives are about to change in ways you never realized you'd be encountering.

As children, your lives were sheltered and controlled. The world fed to you in bits and pieces. But as you grew, you learned more about your world as you grew as a person. You are now standing on the foundation of all that you have learned, and created, to the rest of your lives.

I stand at a very unique situation here. Not only have I grown, but I have gone beyond into a situation that no normal person even concieved pre-N Day. But, the world you're in has become larger for these changes that have swirled around this generation.

In this day and age, there is something called Opportunity.

There are as many opportunities a person can have to achieve their goals as the stars in the heavens and the grains of sand on the beach. One cannot afford to just stay with what they are comfortable with. Explore new possibilities. There is just too much there for one to ignore. Reach out. Grab something completely unexpected.

IMPROVISE. BE SPONTANEOUS!

Such things are the spice of life. Keeping a youthful and energetic approach to life will keep you in the running for years. One should not throw away their ambition or energy just because they are at a 9 to 5 job in a comfortable and safe cubicle. At every opportunity, you should... no you must, completely change your point of view. Approach life from a new angle.

Stagnation kills.

I've seen people grow old, and comfortable with their ways as I grew up. Eventually, the life they had just ebbed away. Fading away is not something we should do. We should always try to shine in our own ways.

This is your future. Your future is decided on the decisions that you make and create. I am proud today to be standing before you, seeing a new batch of willing, eager, and vibrant people, willing to sieze the day in ways that will innovate the future for Human kind.

It will be interesting how the next 10 to 20 years shape up as you all pass through college and your carreers. Not all of us will make a lasting impact, Nova or Human, but in our own way we contribute to the greater whole. We live together on this planet, and I for one, would be proud to someday work with one of you.

You know, this day isn't just about thinking about the future, but also celebrating our accomplishments. To look foreward to reaping the rewards of a good long vacation to enjoy the fruits of our labor and to simply relax.

Growing is not just about learning about the world and hard work. It is also about getting out and just, for no other reason, enjoying every minute of your life outside of the humdrum grinding of gears our modern society. I have always felt a need for, if just for a few minutes, enjoying a sip of green tea, and taking a breath of fresh air. Forgetting that there is a larger world.

Learn to take a moment in and recover. Recharge your spirit and not become just a cog.

There is always time to find your center, no matter how hard it is to find it, the time is there.

Finally all in all, when you can, have fun. Just because you've grown up, that you shouldn't feel guilty looking at the world with the eyes of a child, and enjoying a day somewhere. If it's an Amusement park, a quiet beach, a library, or a temple.

Now, while our time together is now only a few more moments, I would like to thank you for allowing me, to speak to you today. I am, once again, proud and happy to be back in this auditorium, speaking to you today. It was an honor.

Well, there it is. I'm sort of embarassed that I got sentimental there with it, but there you go.

By the way, it was great being there. It was actually better than expected. It was a definite plus showing my old science teacher a thing or two.