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fandomhigh2011-04-30 02:29 am
prof_of_cunning) wrote in fandomhigh2011-04-30 02:29 am
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Fandom High Graduation Ceremony, Class of 2011, Saturday Early Evening - Part One!
The ceremony was once again held at sunset for the benefit of the graduates’ less diurnal guests, but the lawn was well-lit with twinkling blue and gold lights draped across bleachers, stage, surrounding trees and specially-assembled trellises, giving the overall effect of a peaceful fairy grove. (Not, say, Las Vegas. Tasteful twinkling lights.)
The staff having taken note of every previous graduation including the most recent, the lights had been purchased from Acme Decorations Studio with a money-back No Coming To Life And Terrorizing Your Party Guests Guarantee... and there was a rather large cache of weapons stashed in a trunk behind the podium. The chance that it would rain toys that could later be used for self-defense was slightly less than the chance that there would be a need for self-defense.
No one could say Fandom High wasn’t a learning experience.
[Open and welcome Class of 2011! Welcome | The Procession | Speeches | Diplomas | OOC]
The staff having taken note of every previous graduation including the most recent, the lights had been purchased from Acme Decorations Studio with a money-back No Coming To Life And Terrorizing Your Party Guests Guarantee... and there was a rather large cache of weapons stashed in a trunk behind the podium. The chance that it would rain toys that could later be used for self-defense was slightly less than the chance that there would be a need for self-defense.
No one could say Fandom High wasn’t a learning experience.
[Open and welcome Class of 2011! Welcome | The Procession | Speeches | Diplomas | OOC]
Valedictorian's Speech - Kennedy {microphone feedback}
Re: Valedictorian's Speech - Kennedy {microphone feedback}
"Hey," she spoke up once she got to the microphone. "So... graduation. You know, there's about two dozen teachers from my old schools falling over from shock right now 'cause I'm up here? I was never really big into the academics thing. Anywhere not here, I would so not be doing this right now. But that's the thing about Fandom. Conventional? Really not a thing we do here."
She took a breath and fished her iPhone out of her robe to actually pull up the notes she'd written down for this, pausing for a few moments while she flipped through apps to find the file. (It wasn't a speech, exactly; it was just notes. She'd be winging this for the most part.)
"So let me explain a little bit about me first-- yeah, I know, but hang on, it's actually relevant." She glanced out into the audience to find Constance and grinned affectionately. "Ever since I was six, I've been going around knowing there's this... thing about me that makes me different. Not special exactly, just different... but there was a chance, a really, really remote one, that I could be special. Until then I was just waiting around to find out if I might win that lottery, except for the part where I had to train a lot to be ready in case I did. Thing is, I knew right from the first day that yeah, the thing I might get to do was the one thing I really wanted to do with my life. And I wanted to do it, you know? I never did get why I wasn't allowed. But then I came here."
She glanced up at the castle, back at her fellow graduates, then out to the students in the audience and smiled. This wasn't a smug smile, or a cocky smirk; this was as genuine and warm a smile as she ever gave anyone. "And nobody here was going to stop me from finally getting to do something with all that stuff I'd been learning. And you know what? It. Was. Awesome. Which leads into my point here. It's not about being told what you might be, 'cause what you are now isn't quite strong enough or powered enough or smart enough, or whatever, to get the job done. It's about doing it anyway, 'cause you know it's right, or 'cause you just... have to do it because you won't know what to do with yourself if you don't. And once you do, you know everything's different. Like, you can't go back to the way you were before. Or at least, I know I can't. Being told you have the potential for something is one thing; realizing you're actually capable of it whether you get the extra-special bonus prize or not is a whole new level. I know that's how it worked for me here, and I'm pretty sure that's how it worked for a lot of these guys up here with me. You know, somehow or other."
Re: Valedictorian's Speech - Kennedy {microphone feedback}
"'Cause the crazy thing about Fandom... it's not a normal place. If you're gonna go looking for this school on a list of places where students got accepted to their first college choice, I hope you set aside a lot of time to look. But we-- by which I mean all of us-- go through a lot of stuff in our time here. Maybe it won't always be something that looks good on transcripts but I think all of us, at least once, ran into something here on this island, or maybe in one of our friends' home worlds, or both, that made us ask questions about ourselves. And learn something in the process." As she spoke, she scanned the audience and the gathered graduates, trying to meet certain people's eyes
if they were there: Tara, Raven, Sookie, Bobby, Karla, Maladicta, Dru, Wesley... "That we're stronger than we thought we were, or that we were wrong about something our whole lives up until now, or... it's a pretty long list. Point being, we've all learned things in Fandom that we maybe wouldn't have ever learned anywhere else... or maybe not until years later. That's why this place is so special. Not to speak for everyone, but for me? I wouldn't trade any of this for anything."She swallowed-- not choked up, not choked up, really, it was just a lot of talking-- and concluded, "So to my fellow seniors? You guys, we kicked ass, and we made it. To the rest of you guys? I know you will too, 'cause that's just what we do here. Fandom? You were totally worth all the risk. That's-- um, that's all I've got."
Okay, so it had sputtered at the end there, but this had stretched her oratory skills far too much as it was; Kennedy hoped the jaunty little salute she tossed off to the crowd before she went back to her seat made up for that a bit.
Re: Valedictorian's Speech - Kennedy {microphone feedback}
She was blushing when she sat back down, but it wasn't every day your girlfriend got to be valedictorian. It deserved something special.
Re: Valedictorian's Speech - Kennedy {microphone feedback}
Re: Valedictorian's Speech - Kennedy {microphone feedback}
Re: Valedictorian's Speech - Kennedy {microphone feedback}