After the senior class of 2018 had their final day of high school on Friday, May. 4 the junior class was given their speaking order for senior speeches. Senior speeches seem to creep up on St. Paul Academy and Summit School students every year as graduating seniors commonly recount that time goes by faster than they ever thought it would.

With the speaking order finalized, juniors have begun to look forward with mixed emotions on their senior year which comes along with a senior speech.

“I thought that I would be super nervous to find out my speech date but I am actually super excited, said junior Anna Perleberg.

Perleberg is the 15th speaker of the class and was elated to be at the front of the speaker order.

“I think its the perfect spot because it isn’t too early but it’s early enough where it won’t be in the way when I am applying to colleges,” said Perleberg.

While some students are excited to get it over with others would prefer to be at the end in order to have time to think about what they want to write about.

“I have no idea what I want to write my speech on which is why I was so happy to find out that I am the 65th speaker,” said junior Preston Fares.

While some students already have an idea of what they want to speak about no matter the order, every year some students seem to leave the speechwriting process when it comes down to the wire.

“At the moment I have no ideas and I am probably going to be someone who starts thinking about my speech two weeks before I give it, said junior Emily Schlinger.

When looking ahead to speeches, Schlinger says that the only thing she is sure of is that her speech will be extremely different from her twin sister Krista.

For the student speakers on the extremes, the emotions when finding out their dates came with pros and cons. For junior Muriel Lang being the first speaker came as a surprise. Lang shares that she was shocked to be the very first speaker but is honored and excited to start off the year.

“I am excited because I feel like I have the power to set the tone of the year,” said junior Muriel Lang. While Lang says it would be nice to have more time to prepare, getting it over with will be nice. Junior Kat St. Martin-Norburg cannot share those feelings as she sits in the last speaker spot.

“Being the last speaker was not my first choice, I would have rather been somewhere in the middle, but I think being last is better than being the first,” said St. Martin-Norburg.

St. Martin-Norburg shares that having her speech at the end of the year is perfect due to the fact that she won’t have as heavy of a course load and will be overall more relaxed after applying to colleges.

Whether a student is first, last, or even 15th, getting the speaker order for the next school year has put many juniors on the path to brainstorming ideas for their speeches. “Senior speeches had seemed so far away until we were given the order of them,” said junior Janie Brunell.

While many students begin to think about their speeches far in advance of getting the order, the setlist has catalyzed brainstorming, fear, and excitement.