Speeches in Aoraki

Written by Oliver Read

This is my experience with the Rotary Speech Competition. Last term the teachers made an announcement tellin us that in in 5 days we will be havin our speech competition. We were all very nervous that we only had 5 days to write and practice our speeches. Luckily Miss Meredith was very understandin o our nerves and made sure we ot sucient time to work on them. I remember havin a lot o un writin and practicin with all o my riends that were doin it also.

When the time came to o in ront o the class I was super scared a part o me was doubtin that I could even do it. My hands were shakin so much I didn 't think I would be able to hold the cue cards. But I did. Thou h I thou ht everyone did an amazin job, only one person could o to the semi finals. When I ound out I had won and was oin to the semi finals in a week, a mixture o excitement and nervousness was rushin throu h me. I knew I had to et that speech a heck o a lot better. So I practiced a lot and had practically memorised it with the only thin I needed bein bullet points remindin me o the next thin to say. I elt pretty confident that the semi finals would o even better than the one in Aoraki.

The speeches at the semi finals were pretty ood. One was about the history o cats. I thou ht that was pretty unny. When they called out my name to say I was movin on to the finals I was super excited. The woman who had been jud in our speeches le t me one note. She told me to et rid o my cue cards so I did. On the ni ht o the finals I reached a whole new level o nervousness. This was the final man! I had to take this super seriously even thou h I was hyperventilatin bi time. I listened to all o the speeches and elt very empathetic or those be ore me because I knew exactly how they were eelin . When I eventually went up to the sta e a sense o calm came over me and I spoke. When they called out the winners I thou ht they all deserved their places but I was also proud o mysel because I still ot ourth. It was a pretty cool experience that I will never or et and would definitely recommend to anyone who will have this opportunity in the comin years. Here is the speech I wrote: Ima ine you are havin a terrible day. Your cat died, your mum yelled at you or hittin your little brother and spilled your lunch all over the round. As you are

walkin down the street, someone smiles at you and you smile back. For some reason, you suddenly eel just a little better than you did be ore. Hi My names Ollie and today I' m talkin to you about endorphins. So, what are these endorphins? Maybe you have heard o this word be ore, maybe you haven’t. They are considered to be one o the most important chemicals in the brain as they are a happy dru that your body produces naturally. To explain a little more, your brain is ull o hormones and chemicals that rush around controllin every sin le eelin . Amon the many there are endorphins. These endorphins tri er almost all happy emotions that you eel. They can be tri ered in many dierent ways. For me, Music definitely releases the most endorphins into my brain, it' s an instant, uaranteed way to eel that hit o happiness. It' s that eelin when your avourite son comes on the radio and you start sin in alon . Or when you nail an entire uitar piece without makin a sin le mistake. Somethin else that ives you a little hi h on endorphins is exercise. I know when I play a ame with my riends I am happier. Not only am I spendin time with the people I care about but I can also unleash my competitive side. I know you ’re wonderin how else you can et access to these ma ical thin s. For you, maybe its bein creative by makin art or writin and seein it displayed proudly on the wall, spendin time dancin with your riends with the music so loud your speakers blow up, or that amazin eelin when you accomplish somethin . This one is my avourite. Sometimes all you need is some nice sweet chocolate, crazy as it sounds this also promotes endorphins. The list could o on and on and on. There are endless amounts o thin s that boost endorphins, some are weird but many are acts that all o us make day to day. Even the small act o smilin releases endorphins in your brain. Why are these endorphins so important? Well accordin to WebMD those who have a lack o endorphins tend to eel low and are ar more prone to depression and anxiety disorders. Those who have a substantial amount o endorphins are seen to be considerably happier and more tolerant to pain. They are our body’s natural pain killer. Whether its mental or physical endorphins will act as adrenaline pushin you urther. Actively trickin your nervous system into thinkin that your body is fine. With mental pain obviously it makes you happier, even i it is just or a fleetin moment. Interestin ly, endorphins also promote a boost o a chemical called dopamine. This chemical is somewhat similar to endorphins; they both are mood boosters and hei hten your pain tolerance. The dierence comes when you take a look at how dopamine is released. Ima ine you ' re tryin to train your do to etch a ball every time your do brin s it back. You ive them a treat. Dopamine is similar to that. it' s a reward system every time you do somethin ood dopamine ets released. Another way dopamine can be released is by a medication named morphine which tricks that reward system into releasin dopamine. I would not recommend this method. In conclusion it' s clear that endorphins are intrinsic to our happiness with scientific proo showin that people who have a low amount o these endorphins are unhappy and people that have a more substantial amount are happier. So thank you or your time and now you know a little bit more about endorphins.