Sabrina+A’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2017

Junior year has been an emotional rollercoaster for all of us, not just me. As much as we like to think that we are the only one going through this experience, we aren’t. And we don’t get an award at the end of the year for being the most stressed out. In my first draft of this speech, I thought of talking about how this year was the worst and how I’ve never felt this stressed in my life, but I’ve heard that come out of my mouth time and time again. I’ve heard myself say “I stayed up past 12 last night to study for the test” or “Why do my teachers hate me” or “I need coffee”, time and time again. The truth is I am more of a pessimist than I am an optimist. I tend to drown myself with negative thoughts until I finally swim up and gasp for air. I tell myself being a pessimist is better than being an optimist. I tell myself being an optimist is naïve and that being a pessimist is being aware. I allow the rain to pour on my head without realizing that the there is only one rain cloud above me and that I’m surrounded by sunlight. I allow my boat to sink when the shore is right beside me. When I’m always focused on what’s negative, I don’t look up and seek the great things. Occasionally, my pessimism compromises with my optimism. When my optimism shines through out of all the negativity, the good days seem like great days, my usual 1-second long half smile turns into a full smile, normal tasting coffee turns into the best cup of coffee, the cute dog video that I watch on instagram turns into the cutest moment of my day, the average pizookie that I share with my friends turns into the greatest pizookie. I desire to be optimistic and happy, the majority of my life. That seems like a common goal we all strive for. Or we possibly strive for the equilibrium. The perfect balance between living a happy life full of optimism or a gloomy life of pessimism. Throughout this year, I forgot to smile in many great moments, in the moments where I knew the exhilarating feeling was temporary but I chose to let it slowly evaporate. If we don’t live, laugh and smile during these moments, they then become a distant memory and are locked in the very back of our brains. I wish I had smiled while writing the many daunting DBQs of APUSH, said no one ever, but maybe I could’ve enjoyed the DBQs by smiling. I’ve realized that smiling is something more complex than learning about the muscular system in physio, it is simply more than your neuromuscular system sending electrical impulses to move your zygomaticus major, buccinator, and orbicularis oris to create a smile. Smiling is one of the most powerful facial expressions we have. When we smile at one another it builds a sense of trust with the person the smile is being directed at. As of now our country is a nation full of pessimists, as sad as that seems pessimism is necessary during this time. Change is critical right now. Pessimists can change and solve an issue without expecting the problem to get better by itself. How can we smile and be optimistic when there has been little social change since the birth of our nation? How can we smile when immigrants are being banned from this country? A country that is made of immigrants. A country that is not accepting of other languages. A country that only helps people for economic interest, not out of the goodness of their heart. How do we smile knowing that as students in the US education system, we are expected to spend thousands of dollars on standardized tests, college applications, and college education to be able to achieve a stable life. How do we smile, when our president refuses to realize climate change is real? How do we smile when our society gives us labels, treats us as statistics, until we become nameless? How do we smile, knowing that our life does not get easier from this point on? Seeing the glass half full, or seeing the glass half empty, doesn’t matter, in reality there is just a glass of water. Being a pessimist or being an optimist, shouldn’t matter, we decide how we live our life. Being a democrat or republican, shouldn’t matter, we are both striving to make our country great, in the future or again. We are all human beings. I wish to live in a country where people smile at one another even if they are complete strangers. A very optimistic wish for a pessimist like me. I wish there were more compromises made in our government. Although compromises don’t give each side what they want, a decision needs to be made. Sometimes it is just a no win situation. I am a pessimist, but I am also working on being more positive. I hope to smile a little more everyday in hopes of also making another smile. I am an Amex student just like you, who has learned, dissected, and analyzed history all year. As AMEX students we know what we want our country to be. I want a country that makes me smile, don’t you?