Gabriëlle Pauletta
PHILIPSBURG--Milton Peters College (MPC) VWO Class of 2026 valedictorian Gabriëlle Pauletta challenged her fellow graduates to persevere through life's challenges, urging them to "finish" their race and strive for excellence during her graduation address.
Opening her speech with the message, "The race belongs not to the swift, but to those who endure till the end," Pauletta said graduation marks the beginning of "the biggest race of our lives."
Before beginning her address, Pauletta thanked her parents, family, friends, classmates, coaches, teachers, mentors and gave "an even bigger thanks to God," saying she would not be where she is today without them.
Using her experience as a long-distance runner, Pauletta shared a story about competing in a 10-kilometre race where she was passed first by a five-year-old child and then by a woman over the age of 60.
She said the experience was both memorable and humbling. While she initially tried to explain how the young child could overtake her, she joked that "natuurkunde" could not explain how the older runner also passed her shortly afterward.
Pauletta said the story illustrated an important lesson for the graduating class.
"We're all standing at the same starting line, but tomorrow our paths will look different," she said. "Some of us will get there sooner than others. But remember, just because someone passes you doesn't mean you're behind."
She noted that although all three runners finished at different times, each won in their respective age category.
To encourage her classmates, Pauletta created the acronym "RACE."
The letter R stood for "Run your own race," encouraging graduates not to compare themselves with others but instead to move at their own pace.
For A, she urged graduates to "Always finish strong," saying no race is ever easy.
Pauletta recalled that while she was in HAVO 2, she attempted to move into VWO 3 but missed consideration by just 0.02 points.
Rather than allowing the setback to define her, she said she used it as motivation. She added that sports taught her a healthy form of competitiveness that refuses to be underestimated.
She also shared the song she repeats in her mind while running: "I just can't give up now, I've come too far from where God's called me from. Nobody told me the road would be easy, and I don't believe he brought me this far to leave me."
Pauletta told graduates that success is determined not by how someone starts, but by how they finish.
The letter C represented "Community."
She said that while success is a wonderful feeling, memories and relationships last longer than achievements. Pauletta encouraged classmates to continue supporting, encouraging and celebrating one another, saying individual success does not happen in isolation.
"What makes this class special is the way we push each other, support each other, and celebrate each other," she said.
She described the final letter, E, as "the most powerful letter" in the acronym.
Pauletta challenged the graduating class to become a group that stands when others sit, stands out when others stand, becomes outstanding when others stand out, and ultimately becomes "the standard."
She said the letter E does not represent the end of the graduates' journey at MPC, but rather "a stepping stone toward excellence, and everything that comes next."
Pauletta invited the audience to respond with the word "finish" each time she raised her hand.
"The goal isn't to be first so... Finish!" she said. "When life gets hard... Finish! When others pass you... Finish! Don't let doubt diminish your desire to finish! When you feel like no one is there for you and all hope is lost, God will always be with you, so pick up the pace and finish!"
Pauletta graduates with achievements in academics, athletics, debate and community service.
She has represented Dynamics Sporting Club for the past nine years as a middle and long-distance athlete, competing in 5K and 10K events and earning more than 30 podium finishes, including over 15 gold medals. She has also represented St. Maarten internationally in Jamaica, Curaçao and Anguilla.
She is a member of both the Milton Peters College Debate Team and the St. Maarten National Debate Team and has competed at the region's highest secondary school debating level for three consecutive years. Pauletta has earned four Best Speaker awards and two Overall Best Speaker titles at the national and regional levels.
Beyond academics and athletics, she is an outside hitter on the MPC Girls' Volleyball Team and serves as a Pathfinder counsellor, leading community service initiatives across St. Maarten, Saba, Anguilla and Jamaica.
She also tutors students, creates promotional content for businesses, assists in her family's clothing store, volunteers in her church's Children's Ministry and Communications Department, and was runner-up at the 2023 St. Maarten Science Fair for developing biofuel from sargassum.
