Something unusual or extraordinary that you have done (personal story)
Perhaps the most significant accomplishment any person can achieve in this world is the ability to empathize with those who suffer and in turn, scrape up enough energy to care and do something to make a change. How can anybody offer needed and necessary help without understanding the nature and degree of problems through which another person suffers? At a personal level, I was always sympathizing with cancer patients and donating money towards one research or another. However, I later realized that was not enough. One Saturday afternoon, my high school held a donation drive for the terminally ill where people could give money and anything considered necessary in hospitals. Still, listening to the guest speakers, who were undergoing chemotherapy for different forms of cancer, was an enlightening moment for me because they had spirit despite their weak bodies. I realized that if they could still hold so many emotions, sympathy was misplaced, and empathy was necessary. It is crucial to understand that while they are indeed in pain, nobody wants a constant reminder of his or her suffering. For me, that realization pushed me into volunteering and visiting such patients to spend time with them, kind words and a bright smile can change an individual's perception of life for the better.
Practicing safe sex (humor)
Once, a town received alerts of an impending flood that would leave everything destroyed in its wake. Expectedly, the government sought to evacuate the area and sent buses and Lorries for that purpose. Now, in the same area there lived a God-fearing man who decided such an alert was not worth his time because God will not let him die. Hence, when the flood came, he was the only one still living in the area. The government did not give up on him, and the water level was rising; thus, a boat was their next attempt to save the man’s life. Still, although he was at that point on the top floor of his house, he refused. Expectedly, because it was still raining, the flooding got worse. When the man was finally at standing on the rooftop, the president himself sent a helicopter to take the man to safety and like before, the man still insisted God would not let him die. He died. In heaven, the man blamed God for his misfortune demanding to know why He did not save his life. God answered promptly: “Man I sent trucks, and that was not enough, so I thought a boat could work, but you remained stubborn. Nonetheless, if even a helicopter could not do the job what was I to do? Now I ask if the big and small condoms fail and the scented and studded ones do not manage to help people practice safe sex; what else is there to do? I am sorry, but I do not think a helicopter condom is practical in this case!
Extramarital affairs and cheating (startling facts or statistics; you may make up “data” for this activity)
According to statistics gathered from a 2015 research conducted by a Non-Governmental Organization based in the United States, the incidents of divorce stemming from extramarital affairs stand at sixty-three percent. Apparently, eight out of ten married men have mistresses while six out of ten married women have had an affair. Subsequently, an outstanding twenty percent of respondents are comfortable with an open marriage but a quarter of their numbers are considering divorce to be with the other partners. With the given statistics in mind, cheating and extra-marital affairs have become a norm in American societies and evidently, there is a need for a fast yet effective intervention.
Presenting an award (quotation)
“Education means emancipation. It means light and liberty. It means the uplifting of the soul of man into the glorious light of truth, the light by which men can only be made free.” – Frederick Douglass (The Heritage Foundation).
Frederick Douglass spoke from experience as he encouraged ideas of education as the path to freedom for all persons. Today, the man’s perceptions continue to ring true as proper education has become a priceless commodity for all who want to make it in this jungle we call our world. To that end, it is a personal privilege and honor to be standing before each one of you and present the Frederick Douglass Book Prize Award to one of our very own. For the evidently remarkable depiction of Antebellum America in her latest work on Abolitionist Movement, please raise your glasses for Mr. Lincoln!
How to make something (rhetorical question)
Before fast food restaurants defined American food, we always made Buffalo wings from scratch. Purchasing the fresh uncooked wings from the supermarket was no problem; however, the cooking processes were another matter. After washing the sliced parts, we would dip them in a mixture of wheat flour, cumin spice, paprika, and a pinch of salt before deep-frying the coated pieces. Next, in another pan, we would heat barbeque sauce and honey to a boil before added the deep-fried chicken wings and voila! Nowadays, people even purchase simple French fries, and I keep wondering: What are kitchens for these days?
The future or the past (illuminating with images)
In the new television series, Legends of Tomorrow, one of the main characters has supposedly traveled back from the future to help the world rid itself of an evil tyrant that would wipe it out in a century. The cliché storyline aside, one cannot help but wonder whether the given perceptions of the future will happen. There is the time travelling machine and ridiculing of the twenty-first century as an era of ridiculous smart phones. The houses are also massive structures and, because of the tyrannical rule of the antagonist, technology does not help humans but brings death and destruction. Is it possible that the much-coveted machines we use today will someday in the future turn against humanity?
Some aspect of your school (express interest in the audience)
As a student, there are multiple aspects of the school that I appreciate, and I am sure my comrades will confess a similar sentiment. However, the digital library is so far one of the top, if not the best, features that one cannot help but admire about college. Students, has any of you not used the vast resources availed through JSTOR, EBCOhost, and the likes? Professors, is it trouble-free to allocate reading materials digitally than it was with printed works? Let us appreciate our school administrators, librarians, and benefactors for this ideal and most efficient resource channel!
Works Cited
The Heritage Foundation. Frederick Douglass Heritage. n.d. Web. 5 February 2016. <http://www.frederick-douglass-heritage.org/quotes/>.
