Claire+D's+Final+AmEx+2015+Speech


 * Title of Speech **
 * Why people shouldn't be mean**
 * Text of Speech **

Well there are a lot of things people procrastinate on, and this speech is one of them. Yeah 24 hours ago I still hadn't decided on a topic.

Oh well, just a bit of lightheartedness before this speech which encompasses the angst of a thousand scene kids.

Anyway. I was originally going to do a funny speech because honestly I didn't want to open up. And I still don't. But after listening to other people open up I decided oh well, none of you will remember me in 5 years and I won't remember any of you so who cares.

So I'm going to tell you all my story. This isn't scripted. This is all just my personal experience.

(This part really wasn't scripted. I knew what I was going to talk about and everything that happened because I've lived and relived it so many times. Mrs. Kindred filmed it, but I am too emotionally exhausted to write out everything I said.)


 * So what I'm trying to say is that all those people were wrong about me. I don't care how selfish that sounds. I'm freaking awesome. You don't have to ask for someone's permission to do something. For me, truly declaring my independence was cutting my hair. I talked about it for over a year before I realized that it is MY hair not the communal hair. And if someone has a problem with that they can look the other way. If someone is mean to you, you don't have to put up with it, tell them to screw off. You don't have to ask permission or get someone else's validation to be yourself.

I really don't want this to sound like some bs "be yourself which is easy for me to say because the worst thing that ever happened to me was my parents not buying me a car for my sweet 16. Yay individuality!" speech.

This is not that kind of speech. Take back your life and go LIVE. **

-My brain
 * Cite your sources **