On Monday, May 13th, 2013, students from BHS were honored at the annual Academic Awards ceremony. Students were awarded with academic letters, presedential academic awards and hall of fame inauguration. In the midst of all the awards, Two seniors announced the names of every student recieving an award. Senior Michael Raitor dealt with the pressure of the stage in a few different ways.
“I’m was not nervous because I was in front of people, I was nervous because I can’t see very well and reading out loud can be very difficult for me,” said Raitor.
Raitor knew that he would be challenged and prepared days before.
“I looked through the list of names and if I didn’t know how to say something I asked and wrote it down phenetically,” said Raitor.
Anyone reading hundreds of names will make mistakes but, Raitor didn’t stop for a breath.
“I knew I was making mistakes. I didn’t try to correct myself because there was nothing I could do to change my error. Some people came up to me afterwards and told me I had made a mistake,” said Raitor.
Raitor encourages those speaking at Graduation to take his advice.
“Go over the names beforehand, make notes if needed and just remember, you’re going to screw up,” said Raitor.
Many will remember the awards they recieve and the way their name was pronounced seems minscule compared to the accomplishments acknowledged.
