Brianna+G’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2016


 * Brave **

I honestly had no clue what I was gonna do my speech on. I didn't know whether to be funny, serious, melancholy or jocular. But two days ago, (or two days before I started writing this speech) my dad gave me my idea. We were sitting in the hotel up in Mammoth and my dad was going through all the pictures on our laptop. I hear him stop tapping and he asks me to come over. On the screen was a picture of me from 6th grade. I'm wearing jean-shorts with black leggings underneath, a cupcake shirt from Justice, knee-high converse, and I'm carrying a clarinet in my hand. He looks at me and says four words that I'll never forget. "You were so brave".

It finally hit me that so little people continue to be brave throughout their lives. Im certainly not. So this is what I wanna see change, the ability to be brave.

When we're younger, we don't care about being judged. We happily slay our Camp Rock or Hannah Montana backpack, and boast about being able to watch PG-13 movies. What happens to that as we grow older? Oh ya. Girls turn into B words and guys turn into D words and everything gets judged. It's happened to all of us before. I mean haven't you gone to your closet with a cute outfit in mind and then changed it cause of what other people might think? And that's just one example of how being judged can stop us from being brave. I dont wanna hear that little voice in my head saying "Hellllll no. Do you know how much you would get judged for wearing that? Or Girllllllllll sthapppppppp you know you'd get mad shit for wearing that shirt with those jeans". I dont wanna hear that, instead I wanna hear "Girl you can wear whatever the f you want cause Brianna you are FINEEEEEE". That's what I wanna hear. And yes my inner voice is sassy. Kinda like Fitz. But I mean, look in this picture. Does she look like she cares about what people think? The only cares she probably has are if her shoes are zipped all the way up or if her clarinet case is closed all the way. I wanna be like that again. I want that bravery back.

I don't understand why we should care what other people think? Why are we so afraid to be who we are? I would be so much happier if I saw pink tu-tu's being worn by freshman girls and holy cow I'd pay a thousand bucks to see guys wearing them too. But being brave isn't just what you wear it's also what you do.

That little voice in the back of your head will always seem to pester you at your shining moments. If your afraid of heights, you'll look at Goliath and think "theres noooo way I'm doing that", but maybe if you tried you'd find out that other than the giant plummet to your death its alot of fun. Or when you wanna ask someone to prom. If your a girl and you wanna ask a boy GO FOR IT. There's no rule. And boys if you wanna ask a girl in a cute way but you think it'll make you look like a sissy. WHO CARES. In the long run you'll get alot of credit for being sensitive.

Wouldn't it be such a boring world if brave people stopped doing brave things? Honestly what would we do with our lives without all the crazy people that make us laugh and smile and straight-up think "what the hell is going on?". Like who the heck came up with the "Harlem Shake?" Or even worse, who was the first person to Yike? That sincerely takes a great amount of bravery and possibly alcohol.

I love brave people. In fact one brave person that I love is in this room. Daniel Staples. Now, I didn't know Daniel Staples before being in A-Push. But one day we ended up accidentally staring at each other, making awkward eye contact. Very awkward eye contact. But where a normal person would look away, Daniel simply waved. And guess what, I waved back. Daniel was brave enough to wave at me and now every class period we look at each other and wave. Kind of a tradition. Because of that wave, I've gotten to know a funny, sweet, and amazing person. Now I'm not saying to stare down somebody and wave at them till they nervously wave back at you. But do what Staples did and just be brave, take a chance. Now we all have categories of best friends. The nice best friend, the sassy best friend, and I can guarantee that all of you have the “brave best friend”. I have the brave best friend, she’ll remain nameless but I’d love to share her bravery with you. This girl yells “Aye! Sexy! Call me!” at hot boys when she’s driving. Once we went to the beach, and after finding out she forgot her bikini, she proceeded to strip down to her underwear and jump in the water. Lastly, after finding the biggest hill in Ventura, she put on a helmet, grabbed my skateboard from the trunk, and flew down the hill on her butt. Granted she never made it down the hill because of a pothole, but I was super inspired to start living braver. I feel like having these kinds of friends help us open up. They inspire us to do brave things and take chances. This is the kind of America I wanna see. I wanna be just like my bestfriend. Even if it means risking a gnarly sunburn or a broken nose.

I hope to see more bravery in America and because you may be thinking "Brianna's such a hypocrite, she never even talks in this class." You're right, in fact I believe actions speak louder than words. So other than just getting this speech out of my mouth... *robe* here I am, being the brave girl I used to be.