-Diary 3-
NOTE: This Diary is a part of a series of diaries:
Diary 1 - How I First Got Involved
Diary 2 - My Adventures in South Carolina
Kossacks are encouraged to read them all.
Ohio Organizing Fellowship $ Meter:
CURRENT: $330
GOAL: $550
Donate Now
--More below the fold--
Instead of more campaign anecdotes... I thought I'd take a break and entertain you all with the graduation speech I recently gave.
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Background: I am 17 years old and I recently graduated high school in Asheville, North Carolina. I had the distinct honor of being able to give the graduation speech in front of an audience of more than 2,000.
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Below is the transcript of my speech as prepared for delivery:
As I walked up to the podium just now, I’m sure all of my peers already had predictions on the subject matter of my speech. Examples of predictions most likely comprised of: "He’s going to theme his entire speech around Barack Obama". Well, my friends, you’re all wrong. But, I will be slightly political.
Everyone in this audience recognizes the grave problems that face us in the future.
Every morning, as we drive by the gas stations, we hesitate to look at the price of a gallon of gas in fear that it might have risen another two cents over night.
Every Friday, when we get our checks from our professional or minimum wage jobs, we ask ourselves: "What will I have to cut out of the budget this week?"
Every night, when we turn on our TVs and we look upon graphic images and horrifying statistics of how many more of our brave soldiers were killed in oversea combat missions, our hearts ache a little more.
So, call me the bearer of bad news, but class of 2008, unfortunately, after tonight, everything is about to get a lot harder for us.
We will be called to duty to eradicate world poverty, epidemics, and hunger. We will be summoned to use our intelligence to solve problems such as global climate change and increasing globalization. We are the ones who will solve the pressing and complex international problems that, for some reason, have failed to be dealt with for decades.
And, in hopes of securing a better future for our children and our grandchildren, friends, tonight marks the night in which the burden of the world will begin to rest on our shoulders.
Now, we could all turn a blind eye to these problems. We could refuse to accept the urgency of the issues facing us. We could even contribute to the division in this country and destructively segregate each other among political, economic, and racial divides.
But, if the past four years have taught me anything, it’s that the Class of 2008 will do just the opposite. Tonight, I am here to tell all of you how much you have inspired me. Whether you recently joined us from Africa or you have been in the school system since Kindergarten, this class, more than any other in recent Asheville High history, has become one, big, diverse family of various ideologies and interests.
We were all there, in full spirit, cheering on the State Champion Football and Women’s Basketball teams; we all hung out with and accepted the foreign exchange students; we all witnessed and endured both physical and procedural changes to our school; together, we bade farewell to Judd Porter and welcomed Ms. Carol Ray, as our new leader. We all saw the departure of beloved mentors and the arrival of new and inspiring teachers. And, mostly, we have supported each other in times of strife, embraced those different from us, and acted as leaders to the rest of the school.
It was this class who planned the successful World AIDS Awareness Day last year. It was this class who revived the activism in the Amnesty International Club. It was this class who took steps to found clubs that promoted good race relations, beneficial environmental habits, and community service. It was this class who has contributed to the oh-so-sweet wins over TC Roberson High. It was this class who, in unity, raised our voices against the potential Small-Schools plan.
With everything I have and with sincere respect for each of you, I can say with complete confidence that this class is fully prepared to solve the problems that will face us. Among us, we have the next Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Emily Dickinson, Oprah Winfrey, and Warren Buffet. There will be some of us, who go on to become famous musicians or professional athletes. There will be some who go on to become Broadway Stars or legendary artists. Some will become world-class scholars, while others will begin families and careers.
Before I finish, I would like to give many much-deserved thanks to some of the members of the audience.
First, I would like to thank all of the parents in this audience. It was all of you who brought these amazing individuals in to this world and raised them to become the remarkably intelligent and mature peers that I have grown to know. Moreover, I would like to thank everyone in my family who has gotten me to where I am today because of the constant support and encouragement that I received when I was up and when I was down.
Second, I would like to thank all of the teachers. It was your quirky anecdotes; your contagious passion; your astonishing creativity; and your noteworthy intelligence that kept us awake some of the time, and made us better people all the time. Although, teachers are often forgotten by society, tonight, rest assured that this class greatly appreciates all of the advice that still guides us today.
If anything, tonight, take this speech as one big thank you speech. Class of 2008, it was your open mindedness, your compassion, your zeal, your empathy, your never-give-up spirits, your athleticism, your artistic abilities, your academic strengths, and your ‘positiveness’ that has caused me to have the best years of my life.
After tonight, we will go our separate paths. Many of us will lose contact, and nearly all of us will cease to see each other on a daily basis. However, tonight I will make this promise: I will carry this class and its spirit with me for the rest of my life. No matter where my ventures take me, it will be because of all of you.
So, to close, I will leave you with a quote from... Barack Obama. You were all right. Senator Obama said: "It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today."
Thank you to everyone that I will share this stage with tonight - I love each and every one of you.
(Stay tuned for future diaries describing my work in North Carolina...)
--FAST FORWARD TO NOW--
Recently, I received the AMAZING letter from the Obama Organizing Fellowship Program. It read:
Congratulations!
We've reviewed your fellowship application, and we are pleased to offer you admission into the Ohio Obama Organizing Fellows program.
The program in Ohio will begin with a three-day training June 14th - 16th. After training, you will work with our staff and other fellows to organize for Barack in communities across the state through July 26th.
In order to accept the position and participate in the Fellows program, you must fill out this form by Monday, May 26th at 5:00 p.m. Central:
http://my.barackobama.com/...
If you accept this offer and join the program, someone from the campaign will call you next week to welcome you personally, discuss further details, and answer any questions you have.
Thank you for all that you've done -- we look forward to meeting you and working with you in the weeks and months ahead.
(name censored)
Voter Contact Director
Obama for America
On June 14th, 5,000 other young volunteers and I will travel to our respective battleground states to begin organizing the areas for the General Election.
The campaign has warned us that the work will be hard. It will require a minimum of 30 hrs./week and little to no sleep. My experiences with this campaign have taught me several rules:
- Don't expect sleep - you won't get any.
- Coffee is your best friend.
- Pizza is dinner... every night.
- Don't every think you are done with data entry - there's always more...
- When Barack gives his victory speech, it's always worth it.
I will be an Ohio fellow. This means that several other fellows and I will attend a training in Columbus and then disperse across the state to organize communities and volunteers. This includes hosting trainings, leading canvass teams, and organizing voter registration efforts.
The campaign is providing housing, and that's all. While being a Fellow will be rewarding, it will also be expensive. I will be expected to pay for gas and all of my food.
My goal and my challenge to the DKos community is help me put everything in to this fellowship. If you help me today, I will not have to get a part-time job in Ohio, and I will be able to work even harder.
My goal is to raise $550 which all go towards gas and food for the two months that I will be organizing in this crucial state. Ohio is crucial for a Democratic victory in November, and it will take a lot of work to keep it in the Democratic column.
Please stay tuned for future diaries in which I will share with you my fund raising progress and other anecdotes from my campaign experiences over the past year.
Thank you again for all of your help and Yes, We Can!