Just a little chicken

Some people count their chickens before they hatch.
Not me.
I wait until they've come out of their shells, dried their feathers, stumbled around a bit, made it past their first winter, and been immunized against bird flu. 

THEN I count them.
I just like to be ABSOLUTELY sure before I put my trust in something.

When I entered High School as a wide-eyed freshman, I had dreams of being valedictorian. 

And then life happened, and my first B's since elementary school (thank you, Mr. Nelson) blotted out that dream.

But it was ok.

I realized that High School is a lot harder than middle school, and I couldn't hold myself to the same standard of excellence. It's a bigger pond. I'm still a little fish.
So I resigned to do my best, and be content with that.

Well, that's what I told myself.

It isn't entirely true. 

You see, it's easy to be good. Any decent person can manage that.

I need to be.... impressive.

I want to be remembered.

And I always knew that I wanted to do something at Graduation.

I realized this while I was talking to my friend, the valedictorian, and she openly confessed that she has absolutely no desire to talk at graduation. She has nothing to say.

I have so much I want to say.

We joked that I might write her speech for her.

We were never really serious.

A few weeks ago, I was given my chance.

A friend from the Student Council called me, saying that they really needed to find someone to sing at Graduation. I really wanted to. She said "great" and just needed to check with the Adviser, before it was all settled. 

So I waited for her to contact me.

I kept quiet.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

 Some people knew. She called me during mutual, and my Young Women's adviser overheard, was SO proud of me, and then posted it on Facebook. But I waited. 

After a week and a half, I'd had enough of waiting. 

I texted her.
Within moments, she texted back. "Sorry. Hunter found someone else."

Oh.
I never had the heart to correct my Young Women's leader... so I just let it go, hoping she'll forget.
And that was it.









But not exactly.

Because, as I found out very recently, I am salutatorian. 

Almost. I'm tied with a lovely ginger girl who also happens to be an amazing person and a friend.

So our assistant principal called us in and told us to write a speech (2 minutes long) for graduation, and based on last semester grades they would decide who got to give it.

I immediately despaired.

I felt that I was so close.... and doomed to fall short.

again.

By the way, the ginger girl also happens to be Student Body President.

She is giving the intro to graduation and has no desire to give another speech.
And she is pretty sure that she is going to get a B in Math this semester.

So.... I'm going to end up giving the speech.

Probably. Hopefully. If it all works out.

 

Some people count their chickens before they hatch.
Not me.
I wait until they've come out of their shells, dried their feathers, stumbled around a bit, made it past their first winter, and been immunized against bird flu. 

THEN I count them.
I just like to be ABSOLUTELY sure before I put my trust in something.

I wrote my speech. It's 3 seconds under two minutes, and it's pretty good. But there is still so much I wish I could say.

My friend, the valedictorian, wrote a speech that is three lines and 45 seconds long, because she didn't really want to say anything nice or sentimental about the student body. 

So, that is my writing this week. But I'm not actually posting it until after I've given it. And I might make an extended version for my blog, just to add some of what I wish I could have said. 

But at least I get to say SOMETHING.

Probably. Hopefully. If it all works out.