Letter from the 2008-2009 Student Speaker
MD4 Final Speech Winner
Dear Lions Club Members
It’s been three days now since the State Final, and my mom and I keep
looking at each other, taking turns declaring, “Are you kidding me?”
Five months and six rounds ago, I did not consider this a possibility.
To completely understate things, I’m pleasantly surprised.
I can only guess at how much work went into orchestrating the Student
Speakers Contest. While I simply performed a ten-minute speech, months
of preparation in every corner of the state culminated in this
weekend. At the beginning of this process, my schoolmate and I
competed against each other at the Long Beach Petroleum Club—and
another thousand students competed in another couple hundred locations
elsewhere. While I moved from one round to the next, chairpersons
lined up events, trustees raised scholarship money, judges sacrificed
their weekends, and the Lions so faithfully cheered us students along.
I need to thank so many of you I’m not sure where to start.
I hope you enjoyed the contest as much as I have (highly unlikely),
and feel you made a difference in the lives of the students who
competed. Giving us the chance to speak, to communicate, lending us a
willing ear—it is perhaps the greatest gift you can offer. The contest
had already led me to endeavor further into the world of public
speaking; to wind up the winner is more than I could have ever
desired.
I will never forget what the Lions have done for my family and me. The
experience was nothing short of wonderful the entire way through, and
I continue to be amazed by the sincerity and generosity of the Lions.
I’m happy to say that as a scholarship recipient, the Lions won’t be
able to get rid of me for a long, long time.
Thank you for everything,
Eric Brewster