my sister, the smartypants

I am so proud of my little sister. She was valedictorian of her graduating class at U of W. She gave a beautiful, poignant speech. Ali is not the one to steal the spotlight, making a speech in front of over 100 people is not something that would have come natural, but by watching her you'd have thought she had done it 1000 times before. I want to share parts of her speech, which touched me deeply.

It is such an honour to be here representing the 100th class to graduate from the University of Winnipeg. It was difficult for me to get over the initial shock of having been asked. I’m pretty sure I checked two or maybe even three times to see if they had made a mistake. With no one admitting to a mistake, I assume that the selection criteria must now include awarding points to the student who has taken the longest time completing their degree.
In any event, I am thrilled to be here to say congratulations to my fellow graduates. Today marks a milestone for many of us, particularly those whose road here was far from straight and far from smooth.
To our family and friends, thank you for your support, encouragement and patience. Thank you for reminding us that the stress was worth it; that we could handle it. We are grateful to have discovered the motivation and determination to continue to work at something, even when we aren’t sure why. We know that this is something we will need this in the future.
Thank you to our teachers. The education we have received is a gift; a gift we know not everyone has the opportunity to receive. Thank you for fostering our curiosity, for challenging us, for opening us up to new ideas, and for your willingness to learn with, and from, all of us. We leave here today confident enough to have opinions we feel we can share, and wise enough, we hope, to know that we don’t always need to.
For many of us, being a student at the U of W has deepened our desire to contribute to our communities – both local and global, in a positive way. We have learned the value in admitting that we don’t know, for it is only when we acknowledge that we don’t know that we are able to learn. Because this, we see that meaningful change in our communities will only be possible when we set aside our egos, and build on our collective knowledge and experience.

We are also able to see how a person’s value, their intelligence and wisdom, is not related to how many letters may appear at the end of their name, but instead, is determined by a person’s integrity, their ability to learn, to reflect and to consider - all important skills that our education here has offered us, and for this, we are deeply thankful.
On this day with so much attention on formal academic achievement, I invite all of us to consider the teachers we’ve had outside of the class, and realize, that some of the most brilliant teachers we have had, and hopefully will have, may never have graduated high school or attended a university class.
We will leave here today proud of our accomplishments, grateful for all of our teachers, and humble. Humbled by the realization that thousands of students have sat as we do today, likely wrestling with the same feelings we are, as we contemplate what it means for this chapter of our lives to be closing, and another to be opening.
Those of us looking ahead with a bit of anxiety, wondering what the road is going to look like and where it ought to be leading, can take comfort in knowing that we are not alone And we can remind ourselves that none of us knew what the road here would look like, (I didn’t know that the road here for me would take 9 years)
Our education has taught us to embrace what is unknown, and has shown us that we are capable of more than we think, so we can feel confident in our ability to take on any challenge that may appear on the road ahead, wherever that road may be leading.
I’d like to close by returning to that sense of gratitude, by taking a moment to acknowledge that each one of us is here today, because someone believed in us.
All of us, whatever our stage of life, need someone to believe in us. We don’t need many, but we need at least one. I hope we can all pause sometime today and consider what a tremendous gift that belief has been in our life.
In my life, when I was trying to figure out what I should do after coming back from taking a year off, I was suffering from pretty serious self doubt and insecurities, I didn’t think the university was going to be in the cards for me.

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One day, I’m not really sure why or when, but I was at the U of W when a man who was a prof (and still is a prof ) here started talking to me. I don't think he had any reason to talk to me, and certainly no reason to believe in me, but in those two minutes that we talked, he conveyed a belief in me that for some reason I trusted, even though I didn’t have any belief in myself. Because of that two minute conversation, I registered at the U of W and because of that two minute conversation, I’m standing here today.
I’m sure this individual has had a similar impact on hundreds of other students, and probably has no idea (until I find him after the ceremony and tell him)
Many of you, no doubt, have had a similar experience. I hope that we can all walk out of here today, knowing that this is gift which we can easily share, and by doing so, we can change people’s lives.
Congratulations again class of 2013, I hope that road ahead is filled with curiosity, compassion, some fight and a whole lotta love and laughter.