Alem Hadzic, valedictorian of ECHS in Carrollton, TX. Full graduation speech

Full speech from ECHS Valedictorian Alem Hadzic. Hadzic buried his dad hours before attending his graduation and giving his valedictorian speech.

May, 16th, 2024 was my son Brandon Castaneda's high school and Jr College graduation. Like most moms, I was recording everything so that I could relive the moment forever. I invited some of my closest friends to be there with us. I love that endured my son's graduation. We all expected the usual program, inspiring speeches and proud families filled with excitement. Yes, we DID experience that part of normal graduations. What we didn't expect was the speech given by Alem Hadzic. When Alec Hardzic, the valedictorian went up to give his speech, I kept recording.

He began with the usual inspiring words to his peers. His speech was upbeat and positive. Then, he went off script and began searching for words, his arms began to tremble a little and then his voice began to break. Then the words the crowd never expected to hear were spoken. “My father died yesterday, May 15, 2024, and I attended his funeral today, right before graduation,” Hadzic emotionally shared. “That’s why my shoes are muddy and my arms are shaking.” When you view the video I took you can hear my best friend, Peggi Babick and me gasp. I, along with the entire auditorium had tears filling our eyes immediately.

Hadzic continued his speech. “I can’t pretend that I want to be up here doing this speech right now, but I can’t throw away something that he worked so hard for me to achieve,” he explained. “So I’m going to go to college and work every hour of every day to achieve all of my goals. Because that’s what he wanted and I’m going to do it for him.”

Early College High School CFBISD
Dallas Community College


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