Fandom High Graduation Ceremony, Class of 2012, Early Saturday Evening (Part 1)

[bigdamnprincipal]

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]

Comments

Re: Valedictorian's Speech - Tara Maclay

[life_inshadow]

If Tara had thought a little more about what a valedictorian actually had to do, she probably wouldn't have volunteered, what with the whole public speaking bit. But she sent in her application on a whim, and -- somehow -- she got it, and that meant that after she finished dancing around her dorm room she needed to write a speech. No, she needed to give a speech.

Her knees were shaking as she approached the podium, and the first time she opened her mouth it looked as if she was going to say nothing at all.

She took a deep breath, glanced to her friends in the audience, and managed to start her speech on the second try.

"Hi," she said, still a bit uneasy. "M-my name's Tara. I ... wanted to tell you a story."

Another deep breath, another scan of the audience. "See, once upon a time, there was a girl. And she had -- things inside her she didn't understand, and a family who didn't help much. And she d-didn't really have a lot of friends, because this girl ... she thought she was a freak."

"And then one day, when she was 15, she got sent to summer camp. And she wasn't sure how long she'd be staying, and she was a little scared because, uh, she'd -- never even been on a plane, and she'd be going all the way to the other side of the country.

"But she got on the plane anyhow, and when she got here, she found ... things she never could have imagined. Some of them were horrible. But a lot of them were more wonderful than anything she could have imagined back in that safe little town where, um, nobody really understood her."

"She found friends. She found love. And she found there was so much more to her than she'd ever realized, and that all she needed was the right circumstances to bring it out."

"That girl was me," Tara said. "But she was also the other dozen girls in the class. Or maybe she was a boy. And m-maybe he wasn't scared; maybe he was angry. Or maybe she was just hopeful, when she came here. Every single one of us has a story, and I can't pretend to know them all."

"But I do know Fandom. I've been here almost three years. And -- in spite of every single crazy thing that's happened here, every awful thing, I can't think of a school I would rather have graduated from."

"That's it. Thank you." She gathered her notes as if to leave the stage, then realized she had one more thing to say. "Oh, and, uh -- I want to dedicate my speech to the memory of my mother; I w-wish she could have been here."

And then she was really done, which was a good thing because her eyes were getting all moist.

Re: Valedictorian's Speech - Tara Maclay

[willbethenight.livejournal.com]

Bruce actually found something to relate to in that. True, he wasn't a scared girl or a particularly angry boy, but he came to Fandom looking to help with his mission for justice. And now he was leaving, having actually made friends that he wasn't just exploiting in the name of his mission.

It was weird. But Fandom certainly had a habit of shattering expectations in a good way.

So with that, and especially with Tara's closing, Bruce applauded.

Re: Valedictorian's Speech - Tara Maclay

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa was so, so proud of Tara. And there were a lot of things she wanted to run and babble to Tara about, about how she got it, and the school had been like that for her, too, and a lot of people, and that was kind of the point of the whole speech, Rinoa, but it still got to her, anyway. But all she was going to do right now was jump up and applaud like crazy.

Re: Valedictorian's Speech - Tara Maclay

[onapalebicycle.livejournal.com]

Dammit. This was really threatening George's "no crying" rule, today. But she just happened to get allergies while thinking about how Fandom had given her some second chances, and that had nothing to do with her allergies.

Re: Valedictorian's Speech - Tara Maclay

[glacial_queen]

Dammit, Tara! Because now Karla was sitting in the audience, tears streaming down her face. She'd been a scared girl, too, three years ago. And she'd also found friends, and love, and was glad beyond measure that she could count Tara as one of them.

Re: Valedictorian's Speech - Tara Maclay

[brat_inslayage]

Oh, Kennedy totally teared up, and she'd admit it.

...which was why all she did was whistle really loudly. Hard to yell through a tight throat.

Re: Valedictorian's Speech - Tara Maclay

[jerkass-maclays.livejournal.com]

Donny sniggered when Tara got onstage, not really expecting much. His little sister wasn't exactly the public speaking type.

But when she was done ... well, even he had to admit she hadn't totally embarrassed herself. And she'd remembered to mention their mom. He clapped a few times, if a bit grudgingly.