Old Speech

I've been going through some of my stuff as I prepare to move out of my California house (for the second time) and I found a speech I had to give in English when I was a sophomore in High School. First of all, it made me remember how much I love writing... and second of all, it made me realize that my teacher was stinkin' amazing. Our teacher had us pick a topic. At the moment, there was drama going on at school because there were a bunch of students trying to ditch class to protest the war... It was pretty dumb, in my opinion. BUT my teacher, Mrs. Garner...being the genius she is, and wanting me to grow... made me write a persuasive speech in the OPPOSITE mood of how I felt about the protest. And, seeing as how I thought the protest was dumb... I had to write a persuasive speech in support of protest in schools.


Enough babbling. Here's the speech. Laugh if you must. But I got an "A"

"Imagine the fear of war. Imagine you are an average high school student about to turn 18. In many ways, you are still a child; but in the eyes of the law, you are a man. You are drafted into military service. This has happened to many young men throughout U.S. history. Many young men lost their lives in the wars the U.S. has fought during its 200+ years of history. Countless young lives have been lost almost before they really began. Wars are started and wars are ended. Peace occurs for a time only to be threatened again by another war. Yet, the constant thread through the fabric if time is the loss of young, tender lives. Lives like my brother's lives like my cousin's, and others. It is for this reason that I believe protest should be allowed in schools. It is our lives that are on the line.

The first reason that protest should be allowed in school is that students' attention and focus are united for a common good. Instead of worrying about the latest hairstyle, or the latest fashion, students join together for a cause greater than themselves: That of the preservation of human life. What better reason could there be to fight for then the sacred belief that life itself is precious?

The second reason protest should be allowed in schools is that it promotes the idea of free speech. Students have been taught from Kindergarten on that our great country was founded on free speech, as indeed it was. Throughout the history of the U.S. many brave, Americans have used words instead of swords to fight for what they believe in. People such as Patrick Henry, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and Rosa Parks have made known their beliefs through free speech. It is this very vehicle that students use when they use peaceful protest as a means to make their convictions known. Young people, contrary to popular belief, are not simply 'oversexed airheads' whose idea of worry is when the next party is. Today's generation are thinking young adults concerned about the world and all its people. Young people CAN make a difference and through protest they should. Thank you"

So you know those random Middle of the night thoughts that won't leave your head?

Got em!
And hopefully will be filling up pages and pages of moderately wise thoughts... But they won't come from me.. I've found that the random middle of the night thoughts that come out on paper... are from God... I think that's the only time He can get me to slow down long enough to listen to what He has to say :)

I had a whole bunch to say... and was all revved up to post... but I had to set up this blog and my little ADD brain got side tracked and now I can't remember what I was going to write. RAYOS! Well, I'm positive that I'll have something a little later on... otherwise, why would I have created this blog?