It's graduation weekend for most of our area schools, and that means graduation speeches. Now, I've complained about them before - the sameness, the sappiness, the senior-ness of each. And I understand that's the point of graduation speeches. Ordinarily it wouldn't be a big deal, but when you read 14 of them over a couple days - it's not a good thing.
While Dr. Seuss's "Oh the Places You'll Go" is a favorite quote source, we also hear quotes from other authors, various presidents and world leaders and the Bible. We hear memories of elementary school and junior high that don't make sense to anyone but the class members. We hear inside jokes about teachers and class members, and we hear thanks to anyone and everyone the speaker can think of.
A few of this year's speeches actually deviated from the "norm." One looked at the class's career by the numbers. Another couple actually referenced current events, which is rare. And some broke away from the traditional "looking ahead" quotes, which was nice.
You can usually tell when a speaker is nervous. He or she doesn't look up from the script at all and speaks very quietly and quickly. Those who talk fast when they're not nervous sound like an auctioneer when they get behind the mic.
As a former graduation speaker myself (I was valedictorian of my class, if that matters), I know it's not easy to craft a graduation speech. My challenge was that I'd only been at Kensington for two years. I didn't have all the elementary class stories or the inside jokes. I think my speech was one page, and I delivered it in about 35 seconds. I don't remember what I said, and I'm pretty sure no one else does, either. Thankfully.
Anyway, to all the graduates who are receiving diplomas this week, congratulations. As most graduation speakers say, you've made it. This is the day you've been waiting for. It's the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. The world is ahead of you and you can be whatever you want to be. It's the first day of the rest of your life. Etc.
