How To Start A Valedictorian Speech

Thank you, President Raab, for that warm welcome, and thank you to my parents for working tirelessly to ensure I had a brighter future, my friends for always being there and supporting me despite my constant sarcasm, and Durim, for being an inspiration for this speech. As I prepared to write this speech, there were so many questions swimming around in my mind. Aside from “how do I even start a valedictorian speech?” one question really kept coming back to me—what made Hunter so great? That question has so many answers; I could spend the entire night telling you all about them, but I’m sure no one wants to be here that long. But if I was to be asked that question right now, the first thing that would come to mind is unity. If you were to look out at this …show more content…
All of us have proven that by making it here today, despite the countless adversities we’ve faced. My own four years here at Hunter has shown me that through collective effort, we all gain individually, though it’s not always clear at first. A situation I recently faced highlighted the importance of relying on one another. It was the day before a research conference, and I still hadn’t printed my poster, as I was waiting for input. I’m sure we’ve all had similar experiences when it comes to working with others; it’s the night before the presentation, and your group is haphazardly putting pieces of your project together, hoping the professor won’t notice it was done the night before. In my case, though at first I didn’t appreciate working with others, I realized afterwards that without the input of my peers, I likely would not have even made it to the conference. Incidentally, through our collective work, I also became a stronger speaker and didn’t feel so nervous in front of large crowds, although right now, I could say otherwise. To put everything simply, all of us are pieces of a greater whole, almost like parts of a car. From what I’ve seen at my time here, each and every one