It is May 2017. You’re about to graduate from these halls and go out from Chapel Hill to make something of yourself.
You’re trying not to cry and you’re trying not to die from heat exhaustion. Then, the master of ceremonies announces that one of your classmates is about to speak about their time at UNC.
The speech is fine, if you were interviewing for a consulting job, but a somewhat boring way to end your time at UNC.
No graduation should be like this. UNC ought to hold a student speaker competition to encourage UNC’s best orators to give a speech for the ages.
It is no secret that UNC has some talented people who love to rise to a challenge, and if capitalist theory has any merit, we know competition is a good way to increase the quality of an end product.
How would this look, you ask? Starting in January, UNC should start holding open calls for any students wanting to be the speaker. Maybe start by just having applicants submit written work.
Then narrow it down to a few, film them speaking and let the students decide who they want to speak.
Graduation is easily one of the most important moments in our lives. It is when we finally get to celebrate surviving college.
If students worked that hard to get there, they deserve to hear something special at their graduation.
