10 Years Ago, I Gave a Speech
17-year-old me had something to say!
This week, I’m letting Fletcher from 10 years ago do the writing.
Let me explain: When I was in high school (Fall 2011 - Spring 2015), my high school used Gmail and Google Drive for numerous digital aspects of our education, whether it was emailing teachers, gathering research, or collaborating with other students on group presentations.
I recently discovered that I still have the log-in, so I was able to locate things that I wrote 10+ years ago! I’ve found a few gems and wanted to share one with you this week.
Apparently, in Spring 2014, I entered the election for student government.
To be completely honest, I don’t really remember this. I vaguely remember giving a speech and being very nervous, but I don’t remember much else. I kind of remember ranting to my friends about it being a popularity contest.
Here is the speech I gave on a Tuesday morning in Spring 2014:
“Hello, My name is Fletcher Rowe and I am running for SGA Secretary. You might know me as the loud guy in the hallways screaming about my stress, or you might know me as the social media addict who is always trying to be funny or artsy on Twitter and Instagram. I’m here because I wanted to explain why I’d like to be in the student government. First, I’m going to ask you a few questions (you don’t need to raise your hands or anything):
How many of you don’t want to be here right now?
How many of you want to go back to bed?
How many of you hate school has a whole?If you answered yes to any of these questions, I totally get it. School is a place full of anxieties. We’re told a million things we have to do, and we don’t have much time to do any of them. We are asked what we want to do with the rest of our lives. What colleges we want to go to, what jobs we want. We are given assignment after assignment, expected to do our best on every single one. I totally understand why someone wouldn’t want to be here. I have those days where I just don’t want to get out of bed because I feel like I’m going to screw up and let my teachers, fellow students, and my parents down.
It breaks my heart that so many teenagers hate school so much. As secretary, I would not only takes notes and stay organized with all of the secretarial duties, but I would also yield to my main goal of trying to get the student body enthusiastic about school! We are here 7 hours every day… we should enjoy it at least a tad bit! I think we as a student body can all work together to get through these tough years called high school!
Thank you for listening to me ramble. I hope each and every one of you has a wonderful day… and remember, today is Tuesday so it’s a four day school week! Thank you!”
My 2024 reaction:
I cannot verify if I gave this speech verbatim, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I did.
I can see why I didn’t win. I was quite the enthusiastic nerd (Like I said a couple weeks ago, I loved school).
I certainly had the passion, but didn’t give any examples of skills or ideas that I’d bring to the job…
Nonetheless, I’m proud of 17-year-old Fletcher for being vulnerable and putting himself out there!
I hope you enjoyed this blast from the past (more to come).
With love,
Fletcher Rowe
This week’s music suggestion can be summed up in one word: SWEAT!
On Monday, I bought a last-minute ticket (I’m talking 2 hours before the show) to Charli XCX and Troye Sivan’s show (titled SWEAT) at Madison Square Garden.
It was pop music heaven! Over 2 hours of incredible pop music from two of my favorite artists with Shygirl opening and surprise guests ADDISON RAE and LORDE. I’m still in shock.
The setlist is iconic and I’d recommend a full listen :)