Though the student speaker may not have the prestige of Oprah or Justice Anthony Kennedy, the 118th and 119th Comencement speakers, respectively, this position shouldn’t be poo-pooed on. This is the speaker that will welcome, not only the Class of 2013, but their beloved friends and family who must tearfully give away their darling children and let them embark on the best four years of their life.

As the job description asks, the student speaker must be someone “who can comfortably and confidently share his/her ‘Stanford story.’” It got me thinking about what this exactly meant. Did I have a “Stanford Story”? Would I even have one when I did graduate, nevermind before I even began my Senior year. I could list the organizations and activities I participated in over the past three years, but did that constitute a “story”?

From the few minutes I spent musing about this, I gathered that it was more of the experience, something collective, four years in which you didn’t regret, didn’t wish you had another year so you could do this or that. I may or may not apply, but I’m definitely gonna write out “625-700” words to try to encapsulate my “story.” I love doing corny stuff like this just to remind myself how lucky I am to be at Stanford and just how many opportunities it affords me.

My Junior AP English teacher at Arcadia High School made us write a “valedictorian” speech just for kicks and it was one of the funnest assignments I’ve ever done. (Never actually got to read it to an audience though, since I settled for second the best! Yeah salutatorians!) It’s just a great way to sit back, reflect on your life, and be proud of how far you’ve come. Once I finally get around to it, I’ll post it. More to come…