Last Friday was Chapman’s Law School graduation. And while it was not exactly a year from my own, (off by only a day) I could not help but think of my own graduation not so long ago.
Friday May 21, 2010 I woke up on the couch of my parent’s time share. I could not believe it was graduation day. Although I was excited to celebrate with my classmates I was also a bit nervous an anxious. I had all the typical reasons to be feeling this way: bar prep had just begun, I had yet to line up a job, my friends were scattering to all corners of California and some even further. These things along are clearly unsettling to most graduates. But, I had another thing to think about … I was not only attending my law school graduation, I was speaking at it.
My first year at Chapman Law I attended the graduation ceremony. I watched as the peer selected student commencement speaker walked to the podium and began to speak in a clear, steady, confident voice. I remember thinking “what an honor to be able to do that” and “his family must be so excited to see him up there” and other things of a similar nature. But, most of all I remember thinking “I want to do that.”
In February of 2010, I got the email from the Dean of Students regarding graduation activities. I scanned the document noting important times and dates in my calendar. I then came across the information for those students wishing to apply to be the commencement speaker. The process required interested students to draft a speech and turn it in to the administration. The speeches would then be posted, and the members of the graduation class would vote for the speech they wanted to be made at their graduation.
I had a few weeks to write the speech. I thought about it a lot and really considered what I should write about. I must have started a draft 100 different times, each resulting in me deleting the entire document. I decided I needed a little inspiration. I told a few friends from law review that I was writing a speech for graduation, and asked if they had any stories or anecdotes that really characterized their law school experience. This simple question turned into a major brainstorming session complete with hysterical laughter about incidents in 1L classes, horror stories of the socratic method, and a deeper understanding of how we all came to where we were that day. With these stories from my friends, I was ready to start writing.
I had been fortunate to take Trial Practice in the fall of 2010, and that class was the inspiration for my speech. The judge teaching that class had always encouraged us to “just tell a story.” That is exactly what I did. I told our story.
Fortunately for me, I had another friend who volunteered to edit and jazz up my speech for me. He had wanted to be a speech writer prior to coming to law school, and definitely had a flare for words. The speech came back better than I could have imagined.
I submitted the speech and waited. The next day, all speeches were posted – only 3 in total. We were to vote for our favorite, and there would be a run-off between the top 2. I read the other 2 speeches and thought my speech was in good company – it would be a tight race. Luckily, my speech made it to the final 2. And ultimately, it was the speech chosen by my peers, most likely because it was the speech written in part by my peers – it was their stories.
I was so excited when I found out that my speech was chosen, but then set in a little anxiety that I would be speaking in front of such a huge crowd on such a big day. But excitement beat anxiety. I was thrilled.
Most people share this information excitedly with their parents, but I held back. I wanted to keep it a surprised. So while everyone else knew that I would be speaking at graduation, my parents were kept in the dark.
The week of graduation I sat with my friend (the one who edited the speech in the first place) and we went through the speech line by line making tweaks and adjustments. Then we read through the speech practicing tone and inflection at least 15 times … until it was perfect.
The night before graduation, I attended an awards dinner with my parents. We parked in the garage and took the elevator down to the restaurant. A classmate of mine joined us in the elevator. As the doors closed he turned to me and said “are you ready for the speech?” With my clueless parents standing right next to me, I calmly said “yes, I am excited.” I knew my mom would ask what that was about as soon as we were out of earshot so I struggled to come up with a story – a really amazing federal judge was asked to speak at graduation and we were all excited about it. I fed her that line and then kept walking as if it was no big deal. Thankfully, she accepted it and we made it through the night without further incident.
Finally graduation day came. I left for the ceremony early with my sister under the rouse that she needed to save good seats (which was partially true) but mostly I needed some time to practice. I was lining up with my fellow graduates when I parents got to Chapman, but apparently they still did not know.
The ceremony started and I walked out with my classmates, but I was in the front. I proceeded toward the stage, past the chairs where the graduates were to sit. At this point my mom started to figure things out and grabbed for the program, frantically searching for my name. By the time I was seated on the stage, they had figured out the surprise!
The ceremony was pretty fast. I could not tell you a thing that the speakers said because I was so focused on what I was going to say. Then they called the names of each of my classmates and hooded everyone. I got hugs and words of encouragement from my friends as they passed me on the stage. My last friend to come up told me that I had been on the jumbotron the entire time … which was news to me, and made me even more nervous.
Before I knew it, Dean Howe was introducing me and I was walking toward the podium. I place my speech down and flipped open the binder. I took a deep breath and began. It was magical to be looking out at all my classmates and their families and friends. I felt honored to be able to address them and tell them our story. The speech went off without a hitch. A huge smile spread across my face as I wished my fellow graduates a final congratulations and refrained from adding “we did it” to the end of my speech. It is a day I will never forget.
Speaking at graduation takes gumption!!
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