William Chiu
William Chiu, a graduating student, reflects on his three years at Halsey Junior High School, recounting his early anxieties about starting middle school and how he gradually adjusted, made friends, and built confidence. He credits the school's drama class and teachers with helping him overcome shyness and discover his passions. He closes by urging classmates to help others, take risks, and continue supporting one another as they move on to high school.
Key moments
- 01 Recounting a humorous GPS mix-up that led his family to the wrong school
- 02 Describing early insecurity and the desire to feel special and supported in middle school
- 03 Crediting the drama/talent class with building his confidence and public speaking
- 04 Encouraging classmates to help those in need and take risks despite fear of failure
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William Chiu at Halsey Junior High, 2012
A graduation speech about growing up through anxiety, responsibility, friendship, dreams, and gratitude.
Speech arc
- 01Halsey Junior High
Opening move
- 02Class of 2012
Speech beat
- 03First-day anxiety
Speech beat
- 04Wrong-school GPS
Speech beat
- 05Middle-school independence
Speech beat
- 06Responsibility
Speech beat
- 07Each other's dreams
Speech beat
- 08Gratitude
Final charge
Arrival: The first step into middle school felt uncertain
Chiu begins with humor about anxiety, a wrong-school GPS trip, and the fear of leaving familiar classmates behind.
Nerves
The speech remembers the anxiety of entering a larger and unfamiliar school.
Mix-up
The wrong-school story turns fear into shared comedy.
Excitement
Uncertainty sits beside the hope of meeting new friends.
Chiu begins with humor about anxiety, a wrong-school GPS trip, and the fear of leaving familiar classmates behind.
Independence: Responsibility arrived as numbers, schedules, and rules
The first days at Halsey are remembered through the concrete details of student IDs, lunch numbers, schedules, cameras, and finding the right room.
Systems
Middle school introduced new routines that made independence feel real.
Confusion
The hallway details show how small rules can feel huge at first.
Adaptation
The class slowly learned the map, the expectations, and itself.
The first days at Halsey are remembered through the concrete details of student IDs, lunch numbers, schedules, cameras, and finding the right room.
Identity: Wanting to be special became easier together
Chiu names the insecurity many students felt, then shows how classmates helped each other move from self-consciousness toward confidence.
Insecurity
Students wanted to be unique but worried about rejection.
Friends
Familiar faces became support, role models, admirers, and cheerleaders.
Growth
Confidence emerged through shared experience rather than instant certainty.
Chiu names the insecurity many students felt, then shows how classmates helped each other move from self-consciousness toward confidence.
• Key takeaways •
Anxiety can become a shared story
Connects to transition.
Responsibility is learned in daily routines
Connects to responsibility.
Confidence grows through friendship
Connects to friendship.
Graduation belongs to families and teachers
Connects to confidence.
People help make each other's dreams real
Connects to gratitude.
Closing charge
The speech's central image is communal: students are teachers' dreams, parents' pride, and friends' support as they make each other's futures more possible.
A graduating class can become part of one another's dreams
Teachers
The class represents educators' dreams of accomplishment.
Parents
Graduation carries the pride of families and mentors.
Charge
Remember the people who helped you grow.
The speech's central image is communal: students are teachers' dreams, parents' pride, and friends' support as they make each other's futures more possible.
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Transcript
The previously catalogued transcript link is no longer live and is queued for re-sourcing. A video of the address is available above.
Machine transcript available for archive analysis; it is unverified and may contain transcription errors. Machine transcript source ->
Provenance
BROKEN transcript link (checked 2026-06-26): graduationwisdom.com repurposed into lifestyle blog; speech pages gone. Provenance: Imported from NPR commencement archive; cross-referenced with Open Commencement DB
NPR archive last updated in 2015; destination availability has not been exhaustively rechecked | Open Commencement DB transcript; not independently verified against the original recording | Transcript URL dead (graduationwisdom.com repurposed into lifestyle blog; speech pages gone); video fallback present
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