<p>I got mixed messages. At times, I felt she was making a great statement by encouraging everyone within the system to change their mindset and improve the system. But whenever she said directly that she was condemning the system, I cringed. Since she read this to an audience of parents so proud of their children’s accomplishments, wouldn’t it have been better to say, “The system has many flaws”?</p>
<p>Then at the end of the speech she uses many figurative devices and concludes with “But first, let’s go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we’re smart enough to do so!” It confused me. Her entire speech was about the flaws within the education system and the meaninglessness of those pieces of papers and her title. Why would she end the speech in a different direction?</p>
<p>I do agree with her judgment of the system’s flaws and I’m glad she is pointing out everyone’s capacity to achieve even if they don’t have the same title she does. There are kids at my school who say “You’re number 1? I wish I were you!” to the current valedictorian at my school. She has never spoken to this person and it bothers her that people care more about a number than they do about her tastes or personality.</p>