“I’ve always been a rule follower. When they said not to chew gum, I didn’t chew gum. When they said not to use your cellphone, I didn’t use my cellphone. But today, in the spirit of defying expectations, and for perhaps the last time at this podium, I say..."
Early College High School valedictorian Alem Hadzic has gone viral after he took the stage at his graduation ceremony to deliver his speech—just hours after his father's funeral.
"The day my Mom died I called my husband...Then he began to tell me a story about my Mom. A story that I never knew about her before because she didn’t want me to know."
"Until a few years ago as December approached I would find myself starting to worry. Would everyone have a good time? Had I remembered everyone’s presents? Did the house look festive enough? Pressure and stress built up as the list of non-negotiable (as I saw it at the time) events filled my diary."
"People have the notion that since I am so often limping along, dragging my frazzled nerves behind me, God must not be real. If He was real, I would not be suffering so much."
I stared at her and she held out her arms for me. Me. The scary monster. She wanted me. The same person who frightened her, she was seeking comfort from.
