Ryan Neale is a regular teenage boy who just graduated middle school and is heading to high school in the fall.  He enjoys playing basketball, guitar, and hanging out with his friends.  In his final year of middle school, Ryan battled depression and feeling isolated and alone, but decided to reach out to his peers for connection.

Ryan wrote a graduation speech about this, and, while his speech was not the one chosen for his commencement ceremony, he is sharing it here on Epic Exchanges.