Before I begin, I would thank all the parents, faculty, and the principals for putting up with us for over the past year.
When the school year began, I'm sure a lot of us felt elated. We were in the eighth grade; we were at the top of the food chain, the great white sharks of the middle school, the ones who always got to sit at the back of the auditorium. Sadly, that era is over. That's right, we're the plankton at the bottom of the food chain again. In fact, we have to go to the elementary cafeteria for lunch. Well, my fellow classmates, we are now freshmen.
(I am writing this speech for my grade graduation, and so I really want to get chosen to read it. The word length has to be around 250 words, and what I need help with right now is continuing the progression of the speech and to avoid clichés. Any constructive criticisms or edits will be appreciated)
You could say something like: "That means that new problems, new mistakes, new uncertainties will come. But also new friendships, new triumphs, new memories to make," or whatever the fact that you're all freshmen implies for you. And then give some little word of advice for surviving this drop to the "bottom of the food chain" with all you have gained in your year at the top; it has to be specific to what kinds of eighth-graders you are, or else it will be a cliché. And then end with some funny statement or class inside joke to get everyone hype for the future! I don't remember a word of what my high school valedictorian said, mostly because she was so quiet. But what still sticks with me a year later is her ending line, that we "Started from the bottom, now we here," from that song.
