ZOE RIVAS: VALEDICTORIAN SPEECH
“When Principal Simpson came to me and told me that I’d made Valedictorian, I was pretty shocked. Not because I didn’t think my grades would cut it, but because of the person I considered myself to be. Up until recently, I’ve still thought of myself as the person you all met when I transferred into Degrassi. I was arrogant, rude, and I just truly didn’t care about anything but myself.
When I sat down to write this speech, my first draft was full of inspirational quotes and it was good, my mom told me that it was a masterpiece. But.. I threw it away. It wasn’t real, it wasn’t what I wanted my legacy at this school to be. It was fake, it was like the face I’ve been putting on for so long and as much as I love acting, I’ve spent too much of my professional and real life putting on a mask and saying someone else’s words. What I’m saying now, what you’re going to remember me for, I want this to be real and raw. So, here it goes.
The past two years I’ve struggled with an event I won’t go into detail about, but even that isn’t what has hurt me the most. What has hurt me the most is hiding a huge chunk of myself and for everyone in this audience, especially my graduating class, I don’t want any of you to ever be ashamed. You are bright, you are beautiful, and in my time here at Degrassi and my time in the amazing New Directions, I’ve seen that your differences are something to be celebrated. The things that set you apart from what society calls the norm are what today, I’m celebrating for each of you.
This is a place where people can come together and celebrate the beauty that is diversity. Don’t get me wrong, I know there is still prejudice in our halls today. I won’t ignore the bullying that many of our students have faced and I won’t let your suffering be ignored in my attempts to praise Degrassi. Your struggles were valid and unnecessary, and I hope in the future that we as alumni can come back and help make Degrassi safer for all those that will still be here and be here long after us.
But, in all the people that have suffered here, I commend you and celebrate who you were despite the struggles. You were unapologetic about being yourselves. No matter your ethnicity, your religion, whether you were neurotypical or neurodiverse, or just plain out of what society deems the ordinary.. You pushed through, and though I’m the one standing up here as your valedictorian, you taught me more than any book ever did.
I appreciate my teachers, the school board, and I give so much love and thanks to my mother and my friends. You all guided the person I was, despite the struggles I faced, without any complaint. In my darkest days where I thought I’d never live to graduate and my mind was my worst enemy, I was guided by the love and compassion of people I’d never expected to be there for me. Music and friendship are the reasons I have healed and begun to come into my own, and while I have changed so much since my first day here, this is only the beginning.
When I started here, I didn’t know who I was. I thought I did, but I wasn’t correct. Back then I was Zoe Rivas, formerly Gatsby Garcia from West Drive. There was nothing more to me than cutting words and a confidence that was merely a facade. Today, I stand in front of you a changed person from my time here. Today, I want to introduce the real me to you all for the first time.
Hello, my name is Zoe Rivas. I’m a woman, I’m a Latina, I’m a lesbian, and I’m your Valedictorian. But most importantly, I’m alive. That fact in itself is all thanks to this school and the people in it.
So, I congratulate every single person in the graduating class of 2017 and the people that helped get them to where they are now. While this may be terrifying for a lot of you and feel like the end, I’m here to tell you that it’s not. This is your beginning, and I want you to hold your heads high and introduce yourselves to the world. Everything before now was the prologue. This is your first chapter and I cannot wait to see how your stories pan out. Thank you, thank you so much.”
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