A pretty good day...

My mouth was so dry. I couldn't figure out why my mouth was so dry. I must have downed 6 or 7 glasses of water, but my mouth was still dry.

As I looked up from my table in the ballroom of the Red Lion Olympia Hotel, I saw Eric's familiar smile and I knew that everything was going to be ok. The magnitude of what he was about to do seemed insignificant to him.

I looked at the namecards of the two people to be seated on either side of Eric as he sat at the head table--Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn and Governor Chris Gregoire. Pretty heavyweight lunch dates for an 18 year old kid.

The seating arrangement for the luncheon

The occasion was the luncheon for Washington Scholars Day. As the outgoing president for the Washington Association of Student Councils, Eric had the honor of making a few remarks and introducing the keynote speaker for the luncheon. In this case, the keynote speaker happened to be the governor.

Eric had seemed so nervous. Who could blame him? He was going to give a speech to a room of 400 people, including the governor and several state representatives and senators. We got to the venue early so he could run the speech by Susan Fortin, State Director of Student Leadership.

Practicing the speech with Susan Fortin

After a couple of run-throughs and a couple of suggestions from Susan, Eric was asked to do a sound check from the podium. His first few sentences sounded pretty shaky and I was getting nervous for him.

Sound check

However, there is something about Eric that I have come to know very well. He doesn't stay nervous very long. And even if he is nervous, he's able to maintain his composure so that he doesn't appear nervous. Shortly after the sound check ended, the room began to fill up and Eric began chatting with people. It seemed to calm him down a bit.

Eric has never had a problem holding an intelligent conversation with adults. Even when he was just a little guy, he possessed a maturity that amazed us. The room was full of high school students (the Washington Scholars), their parents, principals, state legislators and staffers from the governor's office and OSPI. Eric easily moved between friends he knows from state leadership and their parents to state senators and the governor's aides.

Eric with Sen. Jerome Delvin and fellow RHS seniors Thomas Bryan and Brian Chou

Chatting with a member of the governor's staff

The lunch started and everyone took their seats. An announcement was made that the governor was running behind schedule and would join us later. Eric settled down next to Supt. Randy Dorn and the two of them chatted over lunch. He seemed calm, but occasionally he would shoot me a nervous smile. I sat with Susan Fortin, the Washington Scholars from Richland (Brian Chou and Thomas Bryan), their moms, and my principal Gordy Comfort.

When lunch ended, the emcee (Exec. Dir. of Association of Washington School Principals) introduced the program. There were a couple of speeches from AWSP and from the corporate sponsor. Then it was Supt. Dorn's turn to take the stage.

Supt. of Public Instruction Randy Dorn speaking

When Supt. Dorn was finished, it was time for Eric's speech. As he rose, I said a little prayer for him. He stood before the microphone, took a deep breath, and began to speak. From the first words out of his mouth, my fears were put to rest. He was calm and confident. He did an amazing job. I'd heard his speech several times already, but never as good as it was when it counted.

Delivering his speech

Once Eric was finished with his speech, it was time to introduce the governor. She had come in during Dorn's speech and was waiting in the back of the room. Eric read the governor's bio and introduced her. She made her way to the stage where Eric greeted her and turned over the microphone to her. She spoke for about 10-15 minutes about education and the future.

Gov. Gregoire addressing the crowd

As her speech ended, the governor was ushered off the stage by one of her aides who also summoned Eric. When they came off the stage, we were able to take a photo of Eric and Gov. Gregoire.

Eric with Gov. Chris Gregoire

After the photo, the governor was escorted to the exit. Before she left, the emcee stopped her and said there was one more item of business. He then called Eric to the microphone to ask him some questions. He asked Eric if he knew in advance that he was going to introduce the governor. Eric said yes. He asked how it felt to introduce the governor. Eric said it was an honor. He then asked if Eric would ever do anything to capitalize on the opportunity. Eric turned red. The emcee then asked if Eric had anything to say to Gov. Gregoire.

Eric approached the mike and confessed that the previous night at the Mariners game he displayed a sign stating that he was introducing the governor tomorrow and she really wants some rally fries. Everyone laughed. Eric continued by saying he didn't win the rally fries and the Mariners lost. More laughter. He then stated that he is a man of his word and had he won the rally fries, he would have shared them with the governor. She laughed, as did everyone else, and then exited the room.

For the video of Eric's speech, see below:



(The video is cued up where Eric begins, but you use the scroll bar on the viewer to move to anywhere in the video.)

All in all, it was a great day.