The first thing I told Scalia was that the candidate should be someone who didn’t just have a great highlight reel, but someone who showed up every day. High school is a marathon and an exemplary student doesn’t quit before the finish line. I would say it’s someone who doesn’t get senioritis, but all seniors get senioritis. It’s the seniors who powered through their final year, their final semester, and their final weeks and days of class trying to suck up as much knowledge as possible before they graduate.
And this brings me to my next criteria of an extraordinary student: A student who puts effort into their work not because it will help decorate a piece of paper with the letter A, but because they want to learn. I tell students all the time that any class you take, and anything you do in life all works the same way: You will get out of it what you put into it. When presented with advanced or obscure assignments, students often ask, “Will I even use this in my future?” “I don’t know,” I reply. “But you are here now, so you can either put effort into this and grow from the experience, or mope about it, waste your time, and accomplish nothing. The choice is yours.” And it is a student who makes the best of these situations and cultivates everything they can that exemplifies a star student.
My final major piece of criteria is the student must have a willingness to go above and beyond especially in terms of helping others. But it’s actually more than that because having a willingness to help others means someone will help when they are asked. An exemplary student helps others by instinct without ever having to be asked. They not only push themselves through the end, but they don’t consider the race over until everyone has crossed the finish line. Students don’t just learn from teachers, parents, and other adult figures- they learn from their peers as well, for one day those who are pupils today may be teachers tomorrow. And a student who recognizes this and displays the kindness and patience required to work with others until they succeed is truly a model student deserving of this award.
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So I was like “OK Mr. Bruce. But what you’re asking for is a tall-order. Almost all of our students meet most of your criteria. But I mean come on...a senior without senioritis?”
My grandfather happened to have been a teacher and a track coach. A major influence in my life, he taught me some things about running. Distance running is about conquering the distance not beating the clock. It’s also about resilience, and having the ability to bounce back from adversity, pain or a disappointing performance. It’s about having the ability to focus in the face of distractions or unexpected circumstances. It’s about remaining strong and flexible, able to respond to any situation that arises. It’s about preparation, and having the ability to anticipate situations ahead of time and feel prepared so there is a plan of action for anything that might happen. It’s about openness, willing to listen and take feedback, knowing that’s where real changes take place. It’s about vision, and having the ability to keep moving forward with your objective, even when there are no immediate signs of getting closer to the finish line.
Well I can tell you this, tonight’s winner kept the pace in all of the criteria. Last year she wrote that she feared “never learning that balance or never changing my life to create balance. Never being able to truly display ability because I’m spread so thin.” However, in the two years that I have known her, she has shown incredible poise and grace under pressure, despite the countless hours she has spent in service to the greater Marco Island Academy community and as a student athlete.
She grew into a person that is not afraid of taking risks with her reading or writing. She has peer-reviewed research papers which gave feedback to students that wasn’t necessarily what they wanted to hear, but rather what they needed to hear. She has had straight A’s in every English class she has taken at MIA, including perfect scores in AICE English Language, AICE English Literature, and English 4 Honors. She was one of the semi-finalists in Collier County Public Schools “Laws of Life” essay contest.
Last year’s winner of this prestigious award, Andrah Stansbury, said this of her writing: “your use of pathos in this hit me hard. And when I say hard, I mean like a plane flying into my heart at top speed and trying to fly out all while pulling at my heartstrings.”
This year, a student in her AICE English Literature class said her blog “was as always one of my favorites to read! It's just so dang thorough, honestly! You always portray in such a clean and coherent way exactly what's going on in the book but don't make it into a summary as you weave in your own analysis and strongly support your own opinions. As always, you seriously helped me understand the book and relationships of the characters better.”
On behalf of Mr. Bruce and myself, I apologize for the thoroughness of this speech. However, not to do so, would be a disservice to the effort she put into every assignment.
Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we are honored to present Miss Olivia Watt with the Award for English.
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