High School Graduates Perform Nostalgic Pop Music Medley [VIDEO]

Most graduates leave high school with an encouraging speech from the valedictorian or principal.

North Penn High School’s class of 2012 received something a little more special — a 12-minute walk through their entire school career, from kindergarten to senior year of high school, in the form of popular songs.

SEE ALSO: Watch This Drummer Tear Through Pop Music History [VIDEO]

The medley is performed by the trio String Theory. It starts in 1999 with Backstreet Boys’ “I Want it That Way,” leading up to 2012?s hit song by Fun, “We Are Young.”

And of course, anyone who’s been waiting to graduate since 2000 knows that Vitamin C’s “Graduation Song” will inevitably appear.

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"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever -- because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path. And that will make all the difference."

2. Conan O'Brien, Dartmouth 2011

"It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It’s not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can be a catalyst for profound reinvention."

"The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity."

4. Sheryl Sandberg, Barnard 2011

"Don’t let your fears overwhelm your desire. Let the barriers you face -- and there will be barriers -- be external, not internal. Fortune does favor the bold, and I promise that you will never know what you’re capable of unless you try."

5. Stephen Colbert, Northwestern 2011

"Life is an improvisation -- you have no idea what's going to happen next, and you are mostly just making things up as you go along."

"Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy -- they're given, after all. Choices can be hard. You can seduce yourself with your gifts if you're not careful, and if you do, it'll probably be to the detriment of your choices."

"Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life. No one is here today because they did it on their own."

8. Larry Page, University of Michigan 2009

"Overall, I know it seems like the world is crumbling out there, but it is actually a great time in your life to get a little crazy, follow your curiosity, and be ambitious about it. Don’t give up on your dreams. The world needs you all!"

9. Ellen DeGeneres, Tulane 2009

"The most important thing in your life is to live your life with integrity, and not to give into peer pressure -- to try to be something that you're not. To live your life as an honest and compassionate person. To contribute in some way."

10. Oprah Winfrey, Stanford 2008

"The secret I've learned to getting ahead is being open to the lessons -- lessons from the grandest university of all -- that is, the universe itself."

"Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth. But trust me on the sunscreen."

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