Greatest Valedictorian Speech Ever By Alaine Caudle Of Doniphan West High School (VIDEO)

Do you remember your high school valedictorian? If you do, do you remember his or her graduation speech? No, right? Well, Alaine Caudle of Doniphan West High School, knows that, and apparently, had no intention of going down that way.

Before we go any further, let us take a moment to point out that for the first time, possibly ever, we are 100% serious about the headline of this story. There is no sarcasm intended, no snide mockery, no bait and switch. When we say this is the greatest valedictorian speech ever, we mean it. Alaine Caudle is our new hero.

Note to people in their teens and twenties everywhere: this is what being a confident, naturally funny person looks like.

Good luck in college, Alaine! If you decide to go into comedy, let us know.

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Comments

[JHarris]

01:22 PM on 05/26/2011

Umm, I guess you had to be there...

[John Shaw]

10:49 AM on 05/26/2011

thanxs Christine...

[slacker snowboarder]

09:06 AM on 05/26/2011

I am a victim of yet another Huffington Post hyperbolic headline. Definitely not the best ever and a waste of time.

[Clipping Path India]

07:18 AM on 05/26/2011

Thank you for share.

Clipping Path

[Sapphire Rose]

11:21 PM on 05/25/2011

Was funny, but she she shoulda kept it a bit shorter.

[susou]

10:27 PM on 05/25/2011

Would've been better if she cut it short and continued w/ a speech. Seems like only 30 people graduated, it looks like, so I guess it doesn't matter.

[Oregonian76]

05:59 PM on 05/25/2011

Nobody remembers the "valedictorian's speech" because that's not what it's called. It's a "valedictory".

Glad they had fun... glad Alaine had fun... but really, this is your moment to shine, not to end up on the Comedy section of a website. And you lose points for being so completely "meta" about the whole thing. Just do your bit, don't tell people "you HAVE to remember me now!"

I feel bad for the Salutatorian, who no doubt wonders why he/she spent 4 years being so serious about their grades and then having to watch someone goof around in the spot they were so close to...

(And before you lay into me, I was the Valedictorian of my class. Do I care if people remember my speech? Not really, because I'm not an egomaniac.)

[ChristopherOBrien]

09:43 PM on 05/25/2011

Wow...you're enough of an egomaniac to think that you're way (the serious way) is the only proper path to follow. And even though you were a valedictorian, you are clearly not smart enough regarding the English language to know that both ways of describing the speech is correct. In Alaine's description, she is talking about the speech OF the valedictorian, hence the possessive adjective form she uses to indicate that this is the speech of the valedictorian (the valedictorian's speech). Your way just uses the pure adjective form of "valedictory" to describe the type of speech given. So that was a fail on you trying to "correct" her grammar--I guess you lose massive points on that. And obviously she must have been more serious about her grades than the Salutatorian, because then he/she would have been in Alaine's position. You don't have to be stuffy and pretentious to excel, which you clearly seem to be.

I think ultimately you lacked the charisma or bravery to pull off a similar speech, so here you are looking back at your unmemorable moment trying to make yourself feel better for that lacking feeling you have. Sorry for the harshness, but you kind of brought it on with your failed attempt to find flaws in Alaine's shining moment.

[Oregonian76]

10:58 PM on 05/25/2011

Clearly you weren't on stage at graduation. Was it called the "Benedictor's speech"? No, it's called the benediction. These speeches have names. I've NEVER heard someone call it the "valedictorian's speech". That shows an amazing lack of intelligence regarding the speech given by what is commonly the most intellectual person in the student body.

I wasn't trying to "correct" anything. I said I think it was disrespectful and in poor taste. That it was so "meta" proves the point; Alaine wasn't trying to be memorable on merit alone. It was a very obvious "look at me" moment and gives no impression at all about how hard it is to be in that position.

I also didn't say there's only one way. But there is a difference between humility & respect... And just outright showing off for the sake of getting on YouTube.

[craig film]

10:48 PM on 05/25/2011

No offense, but you actually come across as jealous. It looked like she was well liked by the rest of the class... she involved the rest of the class... and likely, the Salutatorian was up dancing with the rest.

[Oregonian76]

12:20 AM on 05/26/2011

No reason for me to be jealous. I got plenty of thanks after the ceremony when I spoke... My speech was the Featured Speech for the district... And I've even had a handful of people tell me over the last 15 years that my speech stuck with them.

If anything, I'm sad that there will be a lot of people that will only remember that moment because of YouTube views... Not because the Valedictorian actually said anything worthy of inspiration.

[Kaneb]

05:22 PM on 05/25/2011

It looked like they were having fun and being young. If only we were 17 and 18 year olds again.

[craig film]

10:48 PM on 05/25/2011

It's all in the mind and heart...

[Todd Slater]

05:21 PM on 05/25/2011

Wow. That was really... long.

[AlxAlxdr]

03:54 PM on 05/25/2011

That was a very small graduating class and I think that is why they were allowed to do that. If it were a larger class they would not want to mess up other peoples day like that....but it was cute.

[SconnieGuy]

03:31 PM on 05/25/2011

Lost me at "Rebecca Black" at 1:04. Hope the rest was funny, the crowd seemed to be enjoying the seconds that I saw.

[Marturia]

03:28 PM on 05/25/2011

What a memorable thing for a valedictorian to do - lead her classmates in a song! Wish my graduation was that fun!

[LewAshby]

03:24 PM on 05/25/2011

To bad that the "blogger" who posted this piece on HuffPo wasn't bound by the usual journalistic conventions of "who, what, when, where...etc."

Guess I'll have to Google to learn where Doniphan West High School is located, and perhaps uncover a little more info about the Valedictorian.

Oh, and I couldn't understand much of what she was saying/rapping. She made Michael Stipe seem articulate.

[JohnyTL]

02:56 PM on 05/25/2011

The song was bad but the act of going up there and singing was pretty sweet.

[PAChristianLefty]

02:33 PM on 05/25/2011

Very cute, and the grads enjoyed it which probably makes it better than 99% of the other speeches happening at the same time. I'm confused at all the negative comments on this thread. She's a teenager and she wrote a little song for graduation. She wasn't trying to win a Grammy. Good grief. Although once again, I disagree with HP's headline.