Education Today: A Valedictorian Speech

ELLY QUINTON                                                                                                               SENIOR EDITOR 

Hello readers, I know it’s been a couple weeks since I last wrote anything, but today I have something very special for you. I am a very recent graduate of a high school in Desoto County, Mississippi, and I am close friends with the valedictorian of my class. Being the valedictorian, he of course had to write a speech. However, his original speech was deemed inappropriate, and he was forced to start over. Although his speech was censored in a school setting, I still had the great honor of hearing it at a graduation party. As amazing as it was, I thought it would be such a waste for it to go unheard, so I asked him to forward his speech to me and allow me to share it with you all. He makes some terrifyingly real declarations about the education system. Please enjoy this because it is truly a great speech written by a great mind. Thanks Austin, for opening some minds.

Honesty. It’s a virtue that even the truest of souls struggle to maintain. We often find comfort in the safety of our white lies and acts of self-deception, for we fear the discomfort of cognitive dissonance that might accompany a moment of undesirable truth. As I recite this speech, I face a harsh reality: it’s brutally difficult to strike a note of positivity as I take a look back at high school (I’m sure many of you would feel the same in my shoes, and I heartily thank you for your sympathy). But this ceremony in and of itself marks a most obvious—and welcomed-- change in our lives. So, I will now attempt to give an honest speech that offers a “brief,” realistic reflection over the past four years at Center Hill High School.

To preface this, I’d like to say that I don’t intend on boring my audience. If you’re expecting a cliché valedictorian speech, prepare to be disappointed. This message may not be as brief as one would like; all I ask is that you offer me your full respect and attention, for I feel you all deserve to hear something better than your average graduation speech.

My time within the Mississippi public education system has been utterly revealing. We enter high school with a collective objective: to graduate. The collective goal among our class and all that have preceded us has been to escape high school as quickly as possible. Along the way, we acquire other standard directives, be they simply passing an exam or graduating with the highest GPA, which are supplementary to the aforementioned common goal.  I argue that our focus on achieving these goals has taken away from our educational experience. I assert that, under our current system of education, we do not truly learn. We only seek to achieve our original objectives.

One might argue for the validity of rigorously pursuing these goals. Some might even point out the fact that I’ve achieved the goal of becoming the class valedictorian. However, I am no smarter than any of my classmates because of my success in high school. Sure, I may have become an expert test-taker during this time, but, for me, it has all been a means of milking the system to achieve an original goal. 

Henry David Thoreau once said that “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” I have gained the approval of the authorities of education, but I have to ask myself, what have I become by achieving this goal?

My actions have shown the world around me that I am a most capable drone, able to do as I am told without much questioning. I am an excellent slave, for I went above and beyond to please those who wield their arbitrary authority like a jeweled scepter. Within this system, I have acquired the highest possible grades to satisfy those who wish for me to do so—not for the purpose of learning. 

It is fortunate that I realize this, for so many have been brainwashed to accept that our system of education is built on a solid foundation. This is, sadly, not the case. Renowned early 20th century journalist and critic H.L. Menchken wrote on the aim of public education: 

“The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States, whatever pretensions of politicians, pedagogues other such mountebanks, and that is its aim everywhere else.”

It is true that we are all trained to conform to the same standards and expectations of a public education, trained to ace standardized tests and to regurgitate the same facts. Compulsory schooling wishes to strip people of their autonomy under the guise of establishing a productive citizenry. We’re threatened with punishment for deviating from the norms of education. Those who defy the validity of this system are shunned and ejected, for deviants do not satisfy the ultimate plan of the authorities. It is this fear of defying the status quo that suppresses the unique ideas within the minds of young innovators and geniuses.

In understanding my situation, I’ve found the motivation to undergo the journey of true learning. One year in Mrs. Cynthia Stanley’s English class, I remember doing some brief writing on the words of Mark Twain. The great American humorist once stated, “I've never let my school interfere with my education.” For me, this quote justified my interest in subjects outside of classroom curriculum, just as it justified the interests of those who also wished to learn outside of a school. I began to view school as a secondary means of acquiring knowledge and took it upon myself to seek out the information that would better my understanding of the world.

My own personal philosophy stems from the words of the Greek poet Euripides. With great brevity, Euripides establishes a mantra for anyone seeking true personal improvement.

 “Question everything. Learn something. Answer nothing.”

Through realizing the great dilemma of the public education system, I’ve realized my potential as a student in shaking this establishment. Each of us possesses a mind capable of rational thought, capable of forming a unique perspective of the surrounding world. We are so much more than the automatons that we have been conditioned to be in school; we are each capable of greatness. I urge you all to embrace this in your ethics of learning, for it will liberate us when we remember the dogmatic nature of our compulsory education.

Those who scorn our demands for a better educational setting are foolish ideologues, subservient to the authority of their ideologies and ignorant of the human potential. Although some are fully blinded by this deception, many who work within this system seek the same level of reform. To those who operate within the establishment of public education, you have the power to change this system. You have the power to inspire rather than to instruct. Acknowledge the state of our public education and do something about it.

To my fellow graduates, never forget what we have experienced here. Over these four years, we have been exposed to the very same injustice. We will never get those four years back, and we owe it to ourselves to fix that for the future. Once we start walking the path of proper education, we will be able to do away with suppressive tradition through progressive reform. The diploma you receive today is not the only indicator of your intelligence. Whether or not you attend a university in the next few years, realize that you possess an entirely capable mind.

As for myself, I am spending the next four years of my life at Washington University in St. Louis. I owe this achievement to those around me, for it is our surroundings that shape who we are. To my peers, my teachers, and my family— you have all contributed to the person that stands before you. At this moment, I wish to share the honor of valedictorian with these important people. You know who you are.

Before I end, I would like to thank the school administration for allowing me to speak tonight. I thoroughly appreciate that I have not been silenced through censorship, and I know that this kind permission will encourage more voices to speak up in the future in regards to education.

From this day forward, I hope you all take control of your education. In the words of Neil deGrasse Tyson, “There is no greater education than one that is self-driven.” The power of human ambition is limitless. Although some may unsuccessfully seek to limit that power, the simple fact remains, my friends—we will continue to learn and to grow both as individuals and as a society. Guided by impregnable rationality and eternal ambition, human advancement is inevitable.

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