Would this speech get you in trouble?

[mjr]

Let's say you went to a school where you didn't like many of your classmates. And let's say that you were Valedictorian of said school, and therefore have to give a speech.

How much trouble would you be in if you submitted a fake speech for approval, but then went with a different one?

Namely, you get up in front of the graduating class, and say something like:

"Fellow students, I'm smarter than you."

Then just walked off the stage...

[Geek King]

Eh, even not being fond of anyone there, that speech would make you look like a bit of a big-headed dick. No matter that it may be true... (the intelligent bit, not the big headed dick )


If I had to speak to a bunch of graduates today, I'd point out that all the things they thought were important go away the moment you walk out that high school door. The real world doesn't care that you were most popular, or on the cheer-leading squad, or even that you valedictorian. Out here, most people care what you do, can learn to do, and how you work with others. Friends aren't limited just to school anymore, so you can leave behind those who you only tolerated before. You are limited mainly by yourself, and the person you were in high school can remain there, if you are smart enough to realize it.

[ADeMartino]

where does it say you HAVE to give a speech?

[Greenday]

Too short IMO. I would have ranted until I was kicked off stage.

[AnaKhouri]

This might seen heroic when you're 18, but from my persepective (I'm 34) it seems petty and as Geek King said, kind of douchebaggy. Even if high school was miserable for you, you're out of there at that point so why bother letting these kids have any more power over you?

I'm not sure how much trouble you'd get into though, since you've already graduated and are an adult, I don't think there's much high school administrators could do to you.

[EricKei]

If the admins are big enough...er, let's just say "jerks" ...they could decide to not let you graduate on-stage, or, in certain schools/areas, possibly even deny you your diploma entirely and suspend or maybe expel you. It's probably unlikely, but still...

[wolfie]

At least in North America, there's a bit of ambiguity about the term "school", being used for both K-12 and (in some cases, e.g. "Harvard Medical School") for post-secondary. With the post-secondary, the valedictorian would already be "out of their clutches", since graduation takes place AFTER the final results are in. With K-12, at least in my hometown, the graduation ceremony takes place BEFORE final exams. I'd be VERY careful in a situation like that, for the reasons EricKei mentioned. Would suck to go from valedictorian to "flunked out" due to being expelled before finals and therefore not eligible to write the test that's worth half the marks for the course.

[Ironclad Alibi]

"Fellow students, I'm smarter than you."

I think the response would be, "Well DUH! That's why you're the Valedictorian."

[Sapphire Silk]

How much trouble would you be in if you submitted a fake speech for approval, but then went with a different one?

Namely, you get up in front of the graduating class, and say something like:

"Fellow students, I'm smarter than you."

Then just walked off the stage...

You'd be a dick. No matter how badly you were treated, make a speech like that and you are a dick.

Be the bigger man.

[Slayer]

Wouldn't being valedictorian be a celebration of yourself and not your classmates? It's your time to shine so do it right. You may or may not get in trouble but like the others said, you'd be a dick if you did that.

At my high school, the ceremony was three weeks before the last day of school. I probably would have had issues if I did something like that.

[Jester]

How much trouble you would actually get in would depend on your particular school.

As a vindictive prick, I almost like the idea, though if I were going to do something like that, it would go more along the lines of, "Fellow students....go fuck yourselves."

Notice, however, my use of the word "if." Because, while I am a vindictive prick, even I would not do that, for the very simple reason that Sapphire Silk pointed out: to do so, I'd be a dick.

Seriously. A move like that can only be described as a dick move, and no matter how horrible the other students had been to them previously, the person giving that speech would cement themselves as a bigger ass clown than his or her tormentors.

I am hoping, of course, that this is just a mental exercise, perhaps a "what if?" fantasy, and that no one here is actually considering giving such a speech. Or at worst, that such a speech was witnessed by but not given by a CSer. Because I'd really, really like to think that the people on this site really are better than the people we bitch about.

With K-12, at least in my hometown, the graduation ceremony takes place BEFORE final exams.

I think your hometown is the exception, not the rule, as this is the first I've ever heard of this set up. And I went to school in three different states, and have had friends from all over.

[mjr]

I am hoping, of course, that this is just a mental exercise, perhaps a "what if?" fantasy, and that no one here is actually considering giving such a speech.

This was the purpose of the post. Just a "what if".

[XCashier]

If I had to speak to a bunch of graduates today, I'd point out that all the things they thought were important go away the moment you walk out that high school door....You are limited mainly by yourself, and the person you were in high school can remain there, if you are smart enough to realize it.

I like this! This would be a good valedictorian speech.