High school graduation  − 22 June, 1993

We had a hyper-competitive class. There were five statistically tied for valedictorian. I was a few hundredths of a point behind and was named salutatorian, having opted against taking AP Bio senior year just to keep pace with the others. At the graduation ceremony, we all were given equal time for speeches, each one to two minutes in length. I spoke first, and I think the consensus was that mine was the best. Given a lifetime of low self-esteem, no one can ever accuse me of being arrogant. But during my one minute up there in front of my 300 classmates and hundreds more in the bleachers, I kicked ass. This probably was the high point in my life, this one minute.