NOCTILUCA June 2017

Seniors Erik Bakken, So-

phie Mariano and Zoë Throop

are this year’s graduation

commencement speakers.

These students put a lot

of work into perfecting their

speeches. Erik, Sophie and

Zoe shared with the Noctiluca

what went into their speech.

The Noctiluca:

How does

it feel to be selected as one

of the three commencement

speakers this year?

Erik:

I’m incredibly

honored to be speaking. It’s a

really unique opportunity to

speak to the whole Class of

2017 at the same time, since

this is one of the only times

we’ll all be in the same place

at the same time. I’m glad to

have the chance to do so.

Sophie:

I am so honored

to be chosen as a commence-

ment speaker this year! I

know that a lot of students

put in a lot of work writing

speeches, and it makes me

feel even more honored that

mine was chosen.

Zoë:

I feel honored to be

chosen as a commencement

speaker. I know that there

were a lot of great applica-

tions and I am grateful to be

chosen as one of the three to

speak on graduation day.

The Noctiluca:

What

do you believe makes your

speech unique?

Erik:

My speech stems

from having two older sib-

lings graduate from North and

go on to college. I think that

being able to draw both on

my experiences and knowing

what life is like after North

helped me to write my speech

with a unique perspective.

Sophie:

I think something

that makes my speech unique

is that the message within

the speech is told through a

narrative. My speech is about

a three year old that I have

taught tennis lessons to, and

what he ultimately taught me

during those times.

Zoë:

My speech is unique

in that it is an honest and di-

rect dialogue. It addresses our

futures and how we should

approach them in a realistic

manner.

The Noctiluca:

What

prompted you to become a

commencement speaker?

Erik:

Two things. First,

when I was in eighth grade,

I saw my older sister deliver

the commencement address at

North’s graduation to the class

of 2013, which inspired me to

try to do the same. Second, as

the captain of the Forensics

(competitive speaking) team,

I’ve written several speeches

over my four seasons with

the team. I thought it would

a powerful experience to

deliver my last one at North

during commencement.

Sophie:

I have been to

graduation every year dur-

ing my time at North, and

I remember listening to the

commencement speakers

and how they shared really

interesting and inspirational

messages in such a confident

and dignified manner, and I

knew that I wanted to do that

when I graduated.

Zoë:

I decided to become

a commencement speaker

because I thought it would be

worth a shot. I knew that it

would be really cool to speak

that day, and I am thrilled to

do so.

The Noctiluca:

Would you

be willing to provide a sneak

peek of your speech?

Erik:

When I was writing

my speech, I tried to channel

my interest for architecture,

which I’m majoring in.

Sophie:

I think I kind of

answered this in question 2,

but the title of my speech is

“Lessons from a Three Year

Old”, and it tells the story of

a little boy named Ralph, and

what he taught me while I was

trying to teach him how to

play tennis.

Zoë:

Google it!

The Noctiluca:

What

were some challenges that

you faced writing the speech?

Erik:

The hardest part

for me was trying to write a

speech that every graduating

senior could relate to. It’s a

difficult balance, because not

everyone takes the same path

after graduation and I wanted

to focus on the road ahead.

In the end, I think that my

speech has a message for not

just college-bound graduates,

but for everyone in the Class

of 2017.

Sophie:

I think one of my

toughest challenges while

writing this speech was find-

ing that line between “inspi-

rational” and “cliche”. It’s

really easy to unintentionally

became lame while writing

these. I want to be honest, but

I really don’t want to be lame.

Zoë:

The biggest chal-

lenge was starting the speech.

I wasn’t sure what to write

about or where to begin, so

I’d say that was the hard-

est part of formulating this

speech.

The Noctiluca:

What are

your thoughts on the process

of becoming a speaker?

Erik:

I think that the pro-

cess works well. After going

through all the applicants’

rough drafts, the selection

committee chooses several

speakers to audition in front

of a panel. From these audi-

tions, two to three speakers

are chosen on the basis of

both performance and content,

and the speeches are orga-

nized by content for the day

of graduation. The process is

actually pretty similar to a Fo-

rensics meet, where multiple

judges rank students based on

both performance and content.

Because of this, I’d say I was

familiar with the process, and

it seems to be the best way of

choosing fairly and not based

on just one factor.

Sophie:

I think that the

process of becoming a speak-

er is worth all of the work.

You have to be willing to take

the time to write a speech on

your own, and practice it on

your own too. I like how you

have to give your speech to a

panel of judges that ultimately

decide the speakers, because

if you have a great speech but

a below average delivery, or

vice versa, the speech won’t

be successful. Also, once I

was chosen, the teachers that

are on the panel were really

great about giving me feed-

back and setting me up with

teachers that could help me

polish my speech, which I

was very grateful for.

Zoë:

I think that the pro-

cess is fair and organized. It

was an easy process to follow

and I think that it is great that

there are three speakers cho-

sen for commencement.

FEATURES

Appleton, Wisconsin June 2017 Volume XXII Issue VIII Page 9

North seniors comment on their commencement speeches

By Henry Ptacek

From left to right: 1st row: Madison Alsbach, Erik Bakken, Samantha Barr, Camille Christensen,

Gina Dagostino, Joshua Gasik. 2nd row: Ashley Kuehnl, Wendy Li, Sophia Mariano, Zachary Mar-

quardt, Mitchell Mologne, Anna Olson. 3rd row: Madeleine Platten, Alyssa Price, Kayla Schang,

Leah Schwartz, Ethan Tetting, Jacob Wright.

Photos Courtesy of AASD

Dedication pays off for

North’s ‘Best of Class’

Valedictorian, Best of

Class, whatever one may

call it, these North students

are being recognized for the

work they put forth. Gradu-

ating with a 4.00 GPA, they

finished strong. On their

semester report card it will

read 1 for their class rank.

Because of their work

they were recognized at the

“Best of Class” event at

Lambeau Field on May 24.

Mr. Huggins had some

encouraging words in re-

gards to these 18 students.

“We have a tremendously

talented group who will be

representing North at this

year’s “Best of Class” event

at Lambeau Field. To sum

it up, it’s the most students

we’ve ever had attend this

event that I’m aware of.

Eighteen Students qualified

for this special recognition

based upon their cumulative

GPA of 4.0 at the conclu-

sion of 1st semester of their

Senior Year. If one were to

look beyond their respec-

tive GPAs, you’d quickly

realize how challenging

their schedules have been

these past four years and

just how involved so many

are not only within school

and co-curriculars, but also

within our community. Col-

lectively, they are wonderful

representatives for this very

special 2017 Senior Class!”

Erik Bakken

Sophie Mariano

Zoë Throop