Two weeks later, she comes storming into the house after school. "I can't believe it! I'm in the finals!" A week after that, "Thanks for that stellar advice, mom. Guess who got picked to give their speech at graduation? And my teacher, who KNOWS I don't like speaking in public, told me I was in and then gave me an evil grin." And because we are also evil and delight in torturing our children, David and I did not let her back out.
I am sure you will not be surprised to hear that she rocked her speech on graduation night. The following is a transcript of her speech. (I have no clue where she got that sarcastic sense of humor. It must be from her father's side of the family.)
Graduation Speech
My name is Sabrina
George. When I saw the words "Graduation Speech Draft due Tuesday" on
the homework board, fear was struck in my heart. Then, it got worse. My teacher handed us a packet, with prompts
and sentence-starters that were so cheesy it was almost funny. And my personal
running commentary said, there is no way in the world you are going to write a
speech that starts with "I looked back to the day we started at this
school, and saw lost little children running around without a clue, and
thought, my how we've grown," or "We were challenged, and as a team
we overcame those challenges," or something equally cliché. This is middle
school, people, not happy-go-lucky Rainbow Land. So I decided to make my speech to you honest.
There have been some
extremely rare, extremely special moments (for example, I'm up here speaking to
you) and there have also been many moments of chaos, disruption and drama.
We've also grown a lot, and before you say, oh no, she's a hypocrite, let me say
this: It's true. I'm taller, by at least a half inch. And really, it's more
important to take away the few great memories, the little joys, than to think
back on middle school and say, wow, it wasn't all that great, really.
Especially since it’s hard not to have a good time at this school.
Over the course of
this year, I have changed, as well as the rest of you probably have. I have
gotten braver, toughing it with no shortage of melodrama through all of the
incredible challenges a middle school girl faces. For example, getting a good
grade on a test when you were daydreaming about your celebrity crush for the
duration of the unit. Or the daunting task of making it through a mini day when
you've forgotten your lip gloss. These formidable obstacles help shape a teen,
making her stronger. But this isn’t supposed to be all about me, I will acknowledge that the rest of you have become
pretty awesome too.
We have done a ton of
fun stuff together this year; "studying", enduring spirit rallies,
you name it. We also get to see our friends, which is the whole point of
school, anyway, right? We love our friends, and some of our best memories are
because of them. Our friends help us through the bad times, which means we need
them pretty much all through middle school. We also laugh with them, vent to
them about our terrible lives, and make memories with them. Our friends being
there means we find a way to have a great time and goof off no matter the
circumstances. That's part of why this year has been so good.
This school is really
awesome, and that helps too. We have great teachers, and two whole free periods
for working on our “homework”. And even though we would rather be at home
watching TV, listening to music or hanging outside, we have to admit the curriculum
is good. I've actually learned a bunch of stuff this year, and getting good grades
has been more challenging.
High school is coming.
I know that many people "encourage their fellow graduates to look
forward" to harder classes and stricter rules, but quite frankly, I'm
scared. I keep imagining big things with sharp teeth waiting for me at the end
of summer break… High school is going to be new, and different, and we're going
to have to grow into it.
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