'So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish'

[Ashley Weed]

well.. I really didn't know which forum to post this in... so decided on math/science..... I was going to wait till after graduation, but I was asked by a few about my sig.. so I decided to post now. I was selected to be one of few to speak at my graduation, so.. I knew it had to regard me... my life = robotics, but no one would want to listen to me ramble for 2 pages about robotics at graduation, so... the next best thing Douglas Adams. Enough of me just ranting... read the following, and hopefully you can enjoy/appreciate/laugh!


People of Earth, your attention please. Direct from the wise and sometimes eccentric mind of Douglas Adams, your world is being destructed to allow for the building of a super-highway. By obtaining a babelfish when entering the intergalactic shuttle to escape the destruction, many new worlds will soon open to you, and new unexplainable beginnings are on the horizon.
Northern Tier Industry and Education Consortiums Youth Apprenticeship Program provided me with an opportunity I would of never considered taking on. While spending time in the world of science and mathematics, one does not concentrate on the liberal part of education. Many people question whether or not the youth of today will be successful in society. My question to society falls along the lines of: “How shallow is the ocean?” or “How cold is the sun?” NTIEC provided me with the opportunity to work in the Human Resources Department at CraftMaster. From this experience, I will be able to appreciate the work that goes in from different areas, which keep an industry running. Not only would I like to thank NTIEC for such a wonderful opportunity; but also to Dan, John, Marylin, and Kim from CraftMaster’s Human Resources Department, for teaching me valuable assets.
In addition, a personal note to my dear friends who continue to support me through changing times. To my parents and my extended family for always caring. To my early influential teachers: Mrs. LeeAnn Wolfe – for being the spark that lighted my dreams to pursue a field within medicine that would benefit others; and, Mrs. Deneen Lantz – for emphasizing on expressing individuality and teaching me ‘life lessons’. To my Robotics advisors and engineers for inspiring the world of technology to me; and for teaching me not just to drive because I love it, but to drive for pure victory.
My peers of the Class of 2003, from the writings of Douglas Adams, “it is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem”. Right now we all have a legacy that we’ve left on Towanda High School. We were the anxious freshmen, the obnoxious sophomores, the lazy juniors and the graduating seniors. But, in 10 years, who are we going to be? Will we still know of Starbucks, Taco Bell, or American Eagle? Will we have the same wallpaper on our computer monitors? Whatever the answers, what we’ve each learned here will remain at the core of the people we become.
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.