sweet declamation

Our last assignment for Declamation this term was to write in the style of Dr. Seuss. I took his commencent speech for exiting college students (Oh! The Places You'll Go!) and turned it into a convocation speech for incoming NSA students.


Congratulations!
You’re at NSA,
You have books in your hands
That you’ll study all day

You have pulled on your best,
You have done up your hair,
You’re ready to tackle
That big world out there.
Your wallets are empty, all spent on big books,
But the pain is well worth it, by your friends’ freaked out looks.

The teachers are tough and the classes are great
You’ll make some sweet friends and will stay up too late.
With your backpacks all loaded and your laptops prepared,
You will write three fast papers on a weird coffee dare.

The Latin, the French and the smattering of Greek,
You’ll be quite content in the world of the Geek.
We juggle thick books as a matter of play
And have a hard time knowing night from the day.

The freshmen, they smile
Unaware all the while,
Of the workload that’s coming
For now they’re still humming.

Oh!
The books that you’ll read!

You’ll be talking with masters!
You’ll be reading great writers!
You’ll be up with your flashlight
When you pull those all nighters.

For not all is easy,
Nor simple as pie,
No sleep makes you queasy
You’ll just want to die.

The teachers, they smirk as they pile on the work,
And you’ll groan with your classmates and go quite bezerk.
But they say that you’ll make it, those who’ve passed through,
They give the thumbs up and say “So will you.”

So welcome to Andrews, the St. of this school,
And believe me, my friend, we’re really quite cool.