In Reply to: Went to a wonderful homeschool graduation ceremony. sm posted by Estelle on June 03, 2008 at 09:03:22:
: LOL, may be too long for you all, but this is a proud friend moment. : }
: These were homeschool graduates of a local association here. There were 8 graduates this year, 2 of those children being from one of my close friends.
: The president of this particular chapter had a long, drawn-out speech that nearly bored everyone to tears, and the emcee wasn't much better. Don't get me wrong, they both did much better than I ever could b/c I cannot stand up before a public to speak, I don't have it in me. I can't even get my name right, y'know? ; )
: ANYway....
: After the adult speakers spoke, and after a song of praise and encouragement, 5 of the 8 graduates spoke, one of them being my friend's son. One was completely unprepared and admitted such. (I have no idea if they were requested to speak or if they volunteered) He said his speech in basically two very powerful sentences but became redundant with those sentences. Three others had the classic, "Thank you, Mom and Dad, we hope we'll take it from here."
: This son of my friend's, however, really brought the house down, receiving quite a standing ovation.
: He spoke of men in early America who were self taught and educated, namely Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and another I've forgotten about. : {
: Anyway, he demonstrated the great contributions made to our great nation by these particular leaders and that they, as homeschoolers, have the same great potential to make those same kinds of contributions to our nation and to mankind. He encouraged them to find their calling, whatever it may be, and to apply their education to their calling and give it their all.
: I sure wish I would've thought to record that speech, b/c I would've transcribed it. It was a very inspirational speech, to say the least, and this is coming from an extremely smart 17yo. Personally, I daresay he's a genious, and it's not b/c I know him personally or anything like that. LOL, his parents, who presented his diplomas (one from the particular curriculum they followed, the other from the association) finally allowed themselves to tell him that they thought he was a genious. I've talked about him on this board. He has such expansive knowledge in so many areas that at times he talks over my head. The first person that comes to my mind whenever he talks is Daniel of the Bible. Daniel was blessed with expansive knowledge that was not common to his contemporaries.
: ANYway.... I just can't tell you all how proud I am of these graduates, especially of these two who I know personally. He wants to be an engineer like his father, and she is already a dressmaker.