Graduating Seniors: Be the Pol S Convocation Student Speaker!
Deadline extended to Sunday, May 5
One of the highlights of the Political Science Department's graduation celebration is the undergraduate student speech. Giving this speech is a special opportunity to reflect with your fellow graduates on your experiences at UW and to share thoughts about your education. Political Science invites submissions from students who graduated in summer 2023, autumn 2023, winter 2024, or who applied to graduate in spring or summer 2024.
The deadline to submit your speech is Sunday, May 5th. Speeches are to be no more than 500 words (about 5 minutes to deliver) and must appeal to a diverse audience of fellow students, family, and friends. Please email your speech to polsadvc@uw.edu.
While there is no set theme, the best speeches convey your experiences and insights; the worst speeches string together cliches about graduation. Below is a list of topics that formed the central focus of past selected speeches. Use this list as possibilities for how to structure your speech--they are not required components, so don't incorporate all of them.
* What you want your family and friends to understand about why you chose to study political science
* How studying the discipline has shaped your education at UW and life outside the university
* What/who has been an inspiration or challenge
* Moments and experiences in the major and at UW that, looking back, have had a profound influence
* Values learned or practiced while at UW that will continue to be a guide into the future
The Political Science Department will choose the speaker and then will work with them to polish their speech and practice delivering it (we expect to notify applicants of the department's decision within a week after the deadline). The Political Science Convocation is on Thursday, June 6th, from 10:30am to 12:30pm in the HUB Ballroom.
We look forward to reading your speech. Contact Political Science Advising at polsadvc@uw.edu with any questions.