Civility Assembly Speech

Every year on Valentine’s Day, my school hosts something we call the “Civility Assembly”. In the afternoon, the entire school is called to the auditorium, and are presented with an unscripted, straight-from-the-heart presentation from the staff. This year, the theme was “Home”. A former Wahconah graduate who entered the marines gave a speech about the value of home to him and the results of a staff interview as to “Why Wahconah is Home to Me” was presented, among other things. While there were definitely some generic answers, many of the answers really hit home with me, like “I get to see my best self reflected in each of your eyes everyday. Thank you so much for giving me that privilege” from my Physics teacher Mr. Dahari. Students of a school from halfway across the state came to the assembly for guidance as how to build a positive school atmosphere, as they were having issues with violence and negativity in their school. After the assembly …show more content…
Every year, I’d play on fall and spring leagues. When I was in 5th grade, the turnout for my age group wasn’t large enough to form a team, and so I asked the league organizers for their consent to play with the age group above mine. I was not allowed to play in games, however I was encouraged to practice with the team, and so I did. My freshman year in high school, I joined the JV team. My older brother Hayden was on the varsity team, and was already friends with everyone, so anything I did was constantly disparaged and criticized by the older team members. It sucked the fun out of what I was doing. I was not “Holden” in the eyes of the team, I was “Hayden’s Younger Brother”, one of the most demeaning things I’ve ever experienced, not being valued for who I actually am. I decided that I was no longer okay with sticking in the shadow of my brother, and branched out. The following year, I joined the Cross Country team instead, and enjoyed it so much more than I did