My Valedictorian Speech!

I was Valedictorian of my class!!! This is a video of my speech (posted to my YouTube channel), and below that are the words of my speech in a typed out version. (I'll be putting up a post that's more about my experience of being Valedictorian soon!) "Like all the other students behind me, I have a unique story as to why and how I ended up here. I'm lucky enough though, that I get the opportunity to actually share my story with you and tell you all a little bit about who I am.  Just a year ago I wrote an essay about my deep love and appreciation, for bacon. That's not a lie. That's me. That’s who I am.  I'm an insomniac, a blogger, a YouTuber, a writer, a book worm, a music lover, a musician, and many other things. I love super-heroes and sarcasm and singing loudly in the car. I talk to my animals like they're people and I answer for them too, because I'm totally not crazy at all. My nickname is Mayonnaise. Yes, you heard that right. Mayonnaise, like the condiment. They call me Mayo for short, but that's it’s whole own story.  My point is, I'm a total and complete weirdo! That's who your valedictorian is; a person who's nickname is Mayonnaise, who writes essays about bacon.  The future of America everyone. 🙌 Feel proud.  Aside from all the silly things I listed that I identify myself with, I didn't list one really big thing that takes up a huge portion of my life, and I didn't list it because I don't define myself by it.  I'm sick.  I've actually been very sick the last 4 years of my life. I started my freshmen year just as normally and optimistically as every other kid at Paso High, but not even halfway into the first week of school, I got really sick. I spent the rest of the year in and out of hospitals, seeing countless doctors and being tested for anything and everything they thought I might have.  My friends turned into strangers and my doctors became my friends. At a time in my life when my biggest worries should have been about school and friends, and boys and silly things like what to wear; I was waiting for test results to find out if I had cancer or a tumor or something that might kill me.  In the blink of an eye I went from all honors classes and previously having straight A's to not even being able to do simple addition, reading or writing. I couldn't even walk 10 feet without starting to black out either, and the summer before I got sick I was in water polo, swimming for hours at a time, and doing over 300 sit ups per practice.  My life and who I was was ripped away from me and I desperately clung to anything I could that was still me.  4 years later, I'm still sick. I’m immensely better, but I’m still sick. I just don't look it anymore. I'll smile and you'll see my normal looking exterior and you'll quickly notice my weird, silly, fun personality and you'd never know.... I still have insomnia and bad days. I was in the ER just a few weeks ago too because it was a really bad day. 5 years ago, I would've absolutely believed you telling me I would be valedictorian today. I had a 4.0. I was set up to go into advanced placement classes all through high school, then go straight to a university....I figured out that I took a lot of things for granted after I got sick.  4 years ago, I would've barely believed that I could even live through my illness. Just one year ago, I didn't even know if I could finish all my missed credits to simply graduate on time. The possibility of being valedictorian hasn’t crossed my mind in the slightest for years. Despite everything that's been thrown my way over the past 4 years, here I am, somehow still in the place I always dreamed I'd be. It feels right, and yet totally bizarre. After years of hell, I'm finally ending this chapter of my life, and it's still the ending I'd always wanted. It ends with me graduating as valedictorian, giving a speech about life…and bacon. I have Lyme Disease. But that's not something I identify myself with. 4 years later, it still takes up and controls the majority of my life and it's in every cell of my body, but I am not my illness.  It just took me a while to learn that I get to decide what things I let define me. We all get to make the choice for ourselves. We get to choose how we define ourselves.  I will not be defined by my illness. I want to take just a minute of my time here and use this amazing platform to spread some much needed awareness for Lyme Disease. For anyone who doesn't now what it is, all it takes is just one tiny tick bite and your life can be drastically changed. I really encourage everyone to just Google Lyme Disease and learn a little bit about it. I didn't even know what it was before I got it. Researching it and being aware of what it is can save your life.  Next, I want to take a minute to give a shoutout to the Paso Robles School District. I've gone tone to 4 different High Schools in the last for 4 years due to my complicated health issues. I have nothing but great things to say about all the people who helped with my schooling. All of my teachers have been so kind, caring, understanding and so helpful. They pushed me, even when I wasn't sure I could keep up with my work, but I did, and because of their encouragement I'm here today giving this speech. I just have to say, thank you so much. Truly.  I also have to take a minute to thank my family for their unwavering love and support. I would not still be alive today without the love of my family. Most importantly, I want to say thank you for believing in me when I stopped believing in myself. You knew I could still be all the things I wanted to be, and I'm glad you pushed me to not give up on myself. Thank you, I’m forever grateful for everything you all do for me.  You can't solely take credit for your accomplishments in life. This isn't just my award. I deffinitely didn't get here by myself. People always say it takes a village, and it really does. Who I am today is an accumulation of all the things I've been through and all the people in my life. My life isn’t what I thought it’d be, but I'm proud of who I am, and that's what really matters.  I feel lucky to be here. I feel lucky just to be alive. I'm grateful for the amazing people in my life. I'm proud to have graduated, and I'm so truly honored to be your valedictorian. This all means more to me than anyone could ever know.  Life…is like bacon. Sometimes it's not very good. Sometimes you burn it and you have to start over. But the beautiful thing about that, is the next batch could be perfect. Today is like a really good batch of bacon. The last thing I want to say isn’t just for my fellow graduating class. I’m not going to give you all the usual graduation speech ending where I tell everyone to go out and succeed and then use cliches like, “we are the future”  “this is only the beginning” “go change the world.” This is to everyone here, of any age, If you want some really good bacon go out and get the thick sliced kind. Pan fry it like you normally would, then put it on a sheet, brush it with maple syrup and oven bake it. Delicious. You’ll thank me later. The actual last thing I want to say to everyone is this, Live.  Go out and live. Don't take life for granted, because it can change in the blink of an eye. Don't let anything hold you back, especially yourself. Enjoy the little things, like bacon. Cherish the big milestones in life and the people you get to share them with.  Be fearless. Be shameless. Be happy.  And to quote a little band called journey, “Don't stop believing. Hold on to that feeling.” I hope you all enjoy your new bacon recipe.  Thank you, and Congratulations class of 2016."