Compilation of Speech

Above all, educational sector is a system. It is a system that is meant to make money. No wonder educational institutions are responsible for a significant share of the nation-wide GNI (Gross National Income). Every university is a cash-machine and if you are going to school, you have to be smart about it. Not only financially (not getting yourself into a 50-year loan) but also cognitively. “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education,” Mark Twain said. He didn’t advocate self-education, neither am I doing so. He merely pointed to the simple truth that classroom education does not provide all the learning experience you need. It complements and adds to the thing you need most – real-world experience. A Speech to Teenagers About Their Education

“Ladies and gentlemen…This will be a short speech about education. Your education. Our education. The bottom line is that you must take responsibility for it.

“Many of you already know that you have to take charge of your hair and your clothes. Perhaps you know that all too well. You’re also figuring out that you have to take charge of your diet and exercise, of trying to look good and feel good. And you’re figuring out you have to make some tough choices about how you spend your time and whom you spend it with. But some of you may not have figured out theeducation part. One reason is that there tends to be an adversarial relationship between schools and students. The tendency is to resist what adults want, to say, don’t bother me with that serious stuff now. I’ll worry about that in a few years.

“My suggestion is to start worrying today. Now!

“The main thing you might not have figured out is that a lot of people don’t give a damn whether you become educated or not. Some of these people run the schools you go to. Some of you can’t read well, and I guarantee that is the fault of the school. Some of you can’t multiply and divide, and I guarantee that is the fault of the school. Some of you don’t know where the Pilgrims came from, which direction they went in, or where they landed when they got there. Some of you don’t know the names of the oceans, the freezing point of water, or what 8 times 8 is. And I guarantee that all this is the fault of the school. Some of you don’t know the most basic things that any second-grader can understand and learn. Why don’tyou know these things? I guarantee it’s the fault of the school.

“See what you’re up against??

“When we study Philippine schools, we see a lot of make-believe, of keeping kids busy and making it appear that they are being educated. They are not. You’re not. Schools used to push students toward excellence. Now they’ll let you drop like a stone toward mediocrity, if you let them.

“I think it’s fair to say that Philippine education has been warped by ideology and politics. What’s that mean? Some people are all too willing to dumb you down so they can keep you in your place. Say no! Say to hell with you, buddy–I want to know more. I want to be educated. I want to be able to make intelligent choices. I want to be a good voter. I want to succeed if I go on to college. I want to be a smart educated parent when the time comes. I want to be able to help make this a better country.

“So, as I say, take control of your education. Learn what you have to learn; and keep right on going. Any time you see a word you don’t know, look it up. Any time you see a name or a subject you haven’t heard about, run to the nearest encyclopedia or search the web. Try to read at least one magazine cover to cover every week. Read a book a month. Go on offense. Take a look at the subjectsyou know and plan how you can extend that knowledge. Consider the subjects you know little about and figure the easiest way to move toward learning more. Take charge. “Has this little pep talk been gloomy?

That’s because I find myself worrying about education stats. Did you know that this country has 50 million functional illiterates; that SAT scores are dropping; that our A students can’t compete against the A students from other countries; that Jay Leno goes out on the street and finds apparently ordinary citizens who don’t know which way is north?…I just want to impress on you that ineducation, much more than you might realize, you are on your own. If you don’t do it, it may not happen. “Thomas Jefferson said we can’t be ignorant and free at the same time. Ignorance is a kind of slavery. That has always been true. What’s new is the number of people who might be pushing you in the wrong direction. I hope you’ll push back with all your strength.”

1.Difficulties
oCompleting high school, college or graduate school means that you have mastered the school’s curriculum. Though some subjects might have come easily, others likely were more difficult. Use the difficulties you overcame to graduate as the theme of your speech. These can be academic difficulties, social difficulties or an overall difficulty the school faced while you were there, such as the tragic death of a student. Speak about how you first recognized the difficulty and what steps you took to overcome it on your path to graduation. Memories

oEvery day you attend school, you make memories. Think about times when you and your classmates bonded. This might have occurred in a school assignment, field trip or social function such as school sporting events or dances. Recount some of these experiences and speak about what made them special to you and your friends. Homecoming, sporting events, school concerts, club competitions, school theater and field trips are all examples of memories you and your classmates share.

Lessons
oLife is full of lessons that we learn every day. These lessons can be social lessons, such as how to treat people who are less fortunate, or educational lessons, such as how to solve a math equation. Think about some of the major lessons you learned as a student, and as a class together. For example, if you took a class trip to a foreign country, you might have learned to appreciate how the Unites States operates. The class might have discussed how the country’s government differs from the U.S. government. As another example, if your class volunteered to help veterans, you might have learned how to truly respect the nation’s veterans. Future

Graduation is the closing of one chapter in your life and the beginning of the next. Think about what the future may bring and where you and your classmates might be several years from now. Speaking to the hope and promise of the future will inspire your classmates and others in the audience to think about their own plans, dreams and what they want to accomplish in life.

BAD GIRL
Hey! Every Body seems to be staring at me.. You! You! All of you! How dare you to stare at me? Why? Is it because I’m a bad girl?A bad girl I am, A good for nothing teen ager, a problem child?That’s what you call me! I smoke. I drink. I gamble at my young tender age.I lie. I cheat, and I could even kill, if I have too. Yes, I’m a bad girl, but where are my parents?You! You! You are my good parents?My good elder brother & sister in this society were I live?Look…look at me…What have you done to me? You have pampered and spoiled me, neglected me when I needed you most! In trusted me to a yaya, whose intelligent was much lower than mine! While you go about your parties, your meetings and gambling sessions…Thus… I drifted away from you! Longing for a fathers love, yearning for a mothers care!As I grow up, everything change! You too have change!You spent more time in your pokers, mahjong tables, bars and night clubs. You even landed on the headline of the news paper as crook, peddlers and racketeers.Now, you call my name; accuse me in everything I do to myself?Tell me! How good you are?If you really wish to ensure my future Then hurry….hurry back home! Where I await you, because I need you… Protect me from all evil influences that will threaten at my very own understanding… But if I am bad, really bad…then, you’ve got to help me! Help me! Oh please…Help me!

Declamation piece: The Fetus in the Stomach
Last night, I had a strange dream. I dreamed that I was a tiny dot in the womb of my mother. Formed by love, and blessed by the Lord. I could not see, I could not hear, but I could feel that I was loved. Embrace by the warm tenderness ofmymother’sflesh.Here,Ibreatheonmymother’sbreath!Here,I,fed,on,my,mother’s,food! Oh what a place to live! Oh what a place to grow! I was extremely happy in my little world. Believe me, it was happiness beyond compare.In God’s time, I was a tiny dot, no more. I grew, and grew, and grew. Caressed by parental affection. I wanted,,to,say,thank,you,mother,thank,father, for your love, thank you for my life.

One day, I heard splashing sounds, and boyish laughters. I can hear! I can hear! My heart was filled with joy! I kicked and kicked in celebration. Then, I stopped. I heard a sweet voice saying, “Mark, Joe, out of the bathroom now! You might catch cold!” I thought, she must be my mother. Yes, indeed, she was my mother. The two boys, Mark and Joe answered, “Yes mama!” I echoed in the silence of my heart, “Mama, I love you, Mark and Joe, I love you! Wait for me, my brothers, we will climb the guava tree in mama’s garden together soon.”

On another day, my father cam home and told mama, “I have the results! It’s a girl!” “I am a girl! I am a girl! I am the only girl! Mark and Joe, you will have a loving sister! Mother, Father, I promise, I will be a good daughter! I will make you happy parents!”

But one evening, deep in the night, I heard my father and mother, talk about hard times, “Rising prices of gasoline! And food! High cost of education!” My father cried aloud, “How can I support a family of three children?!” I was shocked! Am I an unwanted child? Oh, yes that was what my father had meant!

Oh no, father, please, mother, love me as you love Mark and Joe!

I shouted, I shouted again and again, “Love me, love me please!” I kicked, I kicked again and again for my mother to get the message! I cried, I cried again and again so my father and mother would pity me! I prayed, I prayed again and again, “Lord, I want to be born!”

My father came home, late one evening. He told my mother, “Here are pills from the health center, take one for thirteen days.” I was afraid! When the first pill was taken by my mother, the nectar in my mother’s milk, turned bitter! Oh, God! Pills to murder innocent babies! Unborn but with life! Father, mother, why are you doing this to me?! Do you not love me? Do you not pity me? Love me as you love my brothers! Father, you said you cannot support a family of three children, are you killing me just so Mark and Joe will live? Father, mother, brothers, I do not want to die! I want to be part of you! I want to wash your clothes, I want to cook your food, please do not kill me!

How cruel, how cruel! I cannot defend myself, I cannot run away to avoid the pills poison! I cannot spit it out for my lips are weak and tender!

Somebody, Help me! Nobody cares. I want to live! But nobody cares. I want to be with Mark and Joe!

Then, I felt unbearable pain. I became weaker, and weaker. I was dying little by little. I want to live! But I could breathe, no more. Father, mother, you have murdered me, but I love you–Mark, Joe, good luck my brothers, I am sorry, but I can no longer climb the guava tree in our mother’s garden…I..I…(deathly, but audible whisper..)