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Kyla Uribe
Professor Encinias
CAS 115
14 November 2023
To Be A Speaker

When I was in middle school, I’ve always wanted to be the one to speak at my
promotion. I’ve seen many of my cousins promote, so I was able to see the commencement. It
always seemed so cool to me. Being a huge talker, I’ve always wanted to stand in front of a huge
audience and talk. In this case, I wanted to talk about my promoting class of 2019 and I’s journey
throughout middle school. I feel as though I was able to bond with everyone in my class, given
that I’ve known the majority since Pre-K.
I remember in 2017 watching my cousins promote and telling my mom that someday I
am going to be the one to give a speech at my promotion. Well, that day quickly came. I was
sitting in my fifth-period class doing work when my teacher announced that today was the last
day for the speech auditions. My soul was crushed, I didn’t know that auditions were going on,
and never did I see a flier stating that they were being held. But that didn’t stop me from
auditioning, although I didn’t have time to write a beautiful speech commencing my class I still
went into room 305 and winged it the best I could.
After the speech, I quickly received a standing ovation from four teachers. I thought I
truly had it in the bag because why would they randomly give me a standing ovation if they
didn’t pick mine? They told me that they would email me in a couple of days to see if I would be
the one to speak about my promotion. Two weeks rolled by and I never received an email. It
turns out a girl at the top of our class got to speak at our promotion. I wasn’t mad that I didn’t get
chosen, but I was deeply disappointed in myself that I wasn’t prepared.
But now, I’m in college and have all the time in the world so why not write out what I
would’ve said to my 8th grade promoting class. I think it would go along the lines of this.
Hello Everyone and Welcome again to Antelope Crossing Middle School’s 8th grade
promotion ceremony. I would like to give a special shout-out to all the parents, grandparents,
great-grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and extended family who took time
off work or traveled a ways to come celebrate with us. Thank you for sharing this memory with
us! My name is Kyla Uribe and I have spent all 3 years of middle school here at ACMS. For
those who don’t know me or my family, we are a tribe that shows up for each other. All of my
siblings and 15 of my cousins have all been students here at ACMS.
I remember being in 5th grade over at Antelope Meadows and the day we came to tour the
ACMS campus. Everything looked so big and a bit chaotic. I remember like many of us,
spending the day before planning what we were going to wear that first day of 6th grade. I mean
we all wanted to make a good first impression. Many of us were faced with making that
split-second decision on whether to still hug your Mom or Dad or let them give you a kiss before
you got out of the car. For the record, I still do both. Then there was a search for the super bright
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pink shirt of the Web Leaders to point us in the right direction. So many unfamiliar faces as we
walked through the quad, it made me realize how important it is to be part of a community, a
clan, or a tribe. Like many of us, I started building my tribe at school, my classmates, my
teachers, ACMS staff, and administrators quickly became part of my tribe. And just like my
family tribe, everything didn’t always come up roses. Sometimes I didn’t agree with classmates,
or had misunderstandings with teachers and others, but we still kept working together because
that’s what your tribe does, we see each other through our best and our worst, and become better
for it. Lunch table groups were established, epic rallies that we lost, new friendships bloomed
and student-teacher bonds strengthened. Our tribe grew as did we...on to 7th grade.
We started 7th grade a bit more relaxed and confident, but very much still the “middle
child.” We still didn’t win rally’s...we were rarely in the school news...but we could finally play
other sports, not just run track. The boys’ basketball team put us on the map by bringing us home
a banner that year! And we all learned to try new things while we were changing in many ways,
some of them uncomfortable. Yes, 7th grade had its growing pains. Fashion and dances were ever
changing. Perfecting our “dab” and “hitting the folks”, and starting our van’s collection. Some
left our tribe, some joined our tribe, but we were still all in it together.
8th grade came quickly; and was welcomed with open arms. This was our last year at
ACMS. We had to make it count. Kudos to the Student Government for making every school
dance and rally epic. Even the Jogathon was upgraded to a Color Run. Honestly, I think some of
us are still trying to wash that yellow out of our skin and hair. Good riddance to Lap Tracker and
the raising of that .5 from 10.5 to 11 miles in P.E. Hats off to the teachers who pushed us to do
better and provided many of us the opportunity to walk across this stage. Learning does not come
easy to everyone, but the tribe at ACMS leaves no one behind.
Now as we head to high school, most of us will be sporting the Titan Red, and some will
be moving out of the area or attending other schools, but don’t forget that you are still part of the
ACMS tribe. We are the high school graduating class of 2023, and like the great Michael Jordan
number 23. We will be legen wait for it dary!