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Zoe Winchester ([personal profile] bigdamnprincipal) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2012-04-28 12:51 am
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Fandom High Graduation Ceremony, Class of 2012, Early Saturday Evening (Part 1)

With things back to normal - or as normal as Fandom ever got - preparations for graduation had gone into full swing. The ceremony was set for right after sunset, to make sure all types of guests could safely attend, and the lawn had been lit up with blue and gold lights, creating safe paths in which to walk to the seating area and giving everything a twinkling, serene appearance.

Of course, the staff knew that graduation was rarely a serene event, and the fact that Ingvar's volcano was being unusually active emphasized the need to prepare the seniors as much as possible. Last year's cache of weapons had been discreetly stashed in a trunk behind the podium...and yes, they'd all been properly cleaned. Who knew what dried Viking blood could do to metal?

Once everything had been arranged, the guests were let in, and all that was left was to pray everything went smoothly.

[OCD is up! Have at it! Welcome | The Processsion | Speeches | Diplomas | OOC]

Re: Student Council President's Speech - Annie Edison and Quinn Fabray

[identity profile] chief-cheerio.livejournal.com 2012-04-28 11:49 am (UTC)(link)
Unlike the last student to speak, Quinn appeared totally, coolly unruffled as she took the stage. If her voice was even huskier than normal, it was no doubt a trick of the acoustics .

"It is my honor to speak to you, graduates, faculty and guests, as co-president of the Fandom High student body," Quinn began.

"I want to take a second to thank my fellow Madame President, Annie Edison. I'd also like to thank representative Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Andrew Wiggin -- who was a representative our freshman and sophomore years -- and two former students who represented our class in past years, Elle Woods and Prince Alexander of Daventry. Our advisors, Dean Stinson and Principal Winchester, were also totally amazing. The joke is always that student council just plans dances. I hope the class of 2012 helped to show we could do a lot more than that."

She cleared her throat, glanced down at her notecards. "So when I was writing this speech, I went online and looked for song lyrics as inspiration. I found this song by Carrie Underwood called 'Whenever You Remember.' The part in it that I like goes, When you think back on all we've done, I hope you're proud. When you look back and see how far we've come, it was our time to shine, and nobody could hold us down. They thought they'd see us fall. But we, we stood so tall. And no we won't forget."

"Fandom was our time to shine. We went through so much as a class, so many things that a lot of us would have said didn't even exist. But we did it. We touched the sky, because we had each other. Because we helped each other. "

"Graduation is a beginning to a lot of things. Many of us will go on to colleges, careers, families we've planned. But it's also an end to our time to touch the sky together, and I can't help but be a little sad about that. Still, I know Fandom, and I know most of you. And I know that if there was ever a group of people that could keep shining on like the proverbial crazy diamonds, it's us."

"Thank you."

Re: Student Council President's Speech - Annie Edison and Quinn Fabray

[identity profile] rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com 2012-04-28 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Rilla applauded loudly at the end of Quinn's speech.
notmyownage: (*is looking away*)

Re: Student Council President's Speech - Annie Edison and Quinn Fabray

[personal profile] notmyownage 2012-04-28 10:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"You tell 'em, Quinn!" Claudia shouted, then shrank down in her chair. "Oh, that was out loud, wasn't it."

Re: Student Council President's Speech - Annie Edison and Quinn Fabray

[identity profile] annieadderall.livejournal.com 2012-04-28 02:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Annie was completely confident and still smiling a little as she took the podium for her speech. Her speech which had mostly been written for about a month now, let's face it. She was a champ at public speaking here. And since Quinn had done the thank yous better than she could have...

"Thank you, Principal Winchester and the administration, my fellow classmates, members of Student Council, and guests.

"We're all here for different reasons. Maybe we were looking for a better experience. Maybe things weren't great at home. Maybe we were running from something, or toward something, or just wanted or needed a change. Maybe this place wasn't what we thought it was going to be before we arrived. I know it definitely wasn't for me," she said with a wry little smile. "I came here thinking I was going to an ordinary school and get a fresh start in life, that my senior year would be something I'd have to muddle through just to get a diploma. I thought I would work hard, get good grades and graduate, go on to an Ivy league school and in twenty years I wouldn't think much about where I spent my last year of high school, because it wouldn't matter that much.

"And a year later, seeing all that I have of what Fandom and the people who live here have to offer, I'm glad it's not what I expected. In the last twelve months I've met people from all walks of life, some that I've fought with, some that became my friends. Some that I fought with who then became my friends." Hi, Quinn! "I might not have taken all the usual classes I thought I would, but I learned from the ones I took nonetheless. I didn't spend every free minute in my room studying, but I learned valuable life lessons, like how to appreciate people's differences, how normalcy might just equal boring, and that imitation is not always the most sincere form of flattery even if a teacher has you do it for a grade.

"My life's not going to turn out exactly the way I thought it would a year ago... and that's okay. I know now that just because something isn't exactly what I expect, that doesn't make it wrong, and it doesn't make it not worth enjoying, or learning from. And I have you, the teachers and administration who lead us, the students who go here, those I was proud to serve on Student Council with and especially the graduating class of 2012 to thank for that.

"Future graduates, and even just people listening in the audience, I encourage you to learn this if you haven't already, to accept the curveballs life throws at you, and to remember that this is a good place to get used to curveballs... because seriously. If you can do that, then you'll be ready for whatever future circumstances put in front of you, and I hope by the end of your experience here, you'll be as proud to be a part of Fandom as I am right now. Thank you."

Told you, a champ at public speaking.
Edited 2012-04-28 14:16 (UTC)

Re: Student Council President's Speech - Annie Edison and Quinn Fabray

[identity profile] rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com 2012-04-28 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Rilla was totally not crying okay.

She had allergies.

Re: Student Council President's Speech - Annie Edison and Quinn Fabray

[identity profile] chief-cheerio.livejournal.com 2012-04-28 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, damn. Quinn was impressed enough to cock one eyebrow at Annie as she applauded. That had been an incredible speech -- and Quinn has to dab at her eyes with one knuckle and remind herself very hard that she was not going to be a graduate with runny eyeliner.