Good afternoon Msgr. Filacchione (Fi-la-chi-own-e), Sr. Kathleen, Sr. Dolores, Ms. Eviers, faculty, honored guests, friends and family, and the class of 2003. Every morning of my senior year as I journeyed into Manhattan on the Staten Island ferry, I began to think of what I could say in my speech as valedictorian. While this is an honor achieved by me, I feel that I am the voice of my classmates. I wanted to make this speech as meaningful to everyone, as it is to me. Then I thought, what better way to address everyone personally, than through the form of a letter. And so I will begin: