My first speech!

This is a copy of the speech I gave at toastmasters today. It went fairly well. During my evaluation, my evaluator asked me if I became short of breath. I laughed and said yes, I don't think I breathed much during the speech. Of course, I went too fast. Overall, I loved it and look forward to more!

Good afternoon fellow toastmasters. I am here today to introduce myself to you and give you information about my background, interests and ambitions. I have decided the title of this speech is a “Simple Life”. During my visits to this group, I have had the privilege of hearing many of your icebreaker speeches. I am thankful for this opportunity and look forward to what the future holds.
To begin telling my story, I’ll start at the beginning and work my way to the present. I come from a large family with many cousins, great-aunts and uncles. My family’s roots here in SC go back to the revolutionary war. My great-uncle still lives on land-granted property in Newberry County. I was raised in the 1970’s as our country scrambled to recover from a War. Much of my childhood was directly affected by my father’s experience in Vietnam.
My experience in school was typical. I was a good student and a pretty good athlete. I would become captain of high school basketball team. I even met this particular guy my junior year. At our first date, I had a feeling we would be spending the rest of our lives together.. After graduating from Lexington High School, I went off to Clemson University. The basketball coach there offered me a walk-on position. At the time, I was really struggling to adjust to college life, and my grades were horrible. There are times I wish I had taken that opportunity to become a college basketball player.
My major was psychology; I spent the majority of 4 years trying to figure out everyone and everything. I also became involved with a local rescue squad running ambulance calls. After college, I married and went to work here in Richland County as a paramedic. I worked nights in downtown Columbia during a period where this was the highest, per capita, violent crime city in the country.
After about 3 years of marriage, my husband I brought our first born into this world. Life as I had known it changed that day. This experience of childbirth and breastfeeding would go on to become a deep passion of mine.
Later, I went to school with 2 small children. I look back and wonder how I managed to make it through. With help from my mother and family, I became a registered nurse. It was a very proud day for me, mixed with sadness in the loss of my grandmother the very same week. I had cared for her in the years before her death and I count those years as very formative in my life. I grew up learning from all 4 of my grandparents. I am very lucky to have heard firsthand accounts of wars, the great depression and life in a different era.
After nursing school, I went to work on an ob/gyn floor. After about a year, I had my third child. I quit working and became involved in my first political action committee. We were working towards legislation to protect a mother’s right to nurse her baby in public. These were my first experiences with public speaking, and it was excruciating for me.
Without much experience as a nurse, and needing more income, my next job came in an Emergency Department. This was a great place for me to use my skills I had obtained as a paramedic and learn to define myself as a nurse. I also managed to have another baby while working there. If you are counting, that is 4 children.
After 5 years in the Emergency department, I moved to my current job. My husband lost his job, and we spent the summer racing to figure out who was going to be the primary breadwinner. I won that race and am happy to be challenged with a new sort of role. I am a patient educator for mothers and babies. After years of working in emergency medicine, I finally have the opportunity and confidence to sit and simply talk with my patients. I also have the time to develop speaking and leadership skills.
Most of what I have learned in my life is self-taught. I read all of the time. My favorite hobby is making pottery. I haven’t spent much time playing with clay lately, but I did buy a used kiln last year. My first kiln was broken in our latest move. I have also learned how to cook pretty well. My kids most often requests involve homemade pizza or some kind of pasta. I actually designed our new house around an open kitchen so that my kids could participate. My 3 and 6 year olds help me feed dough into the pasta maker; my 15 year old has even won an award for her brownies.
Even with a full time job, 4 kids and a small farm, I still take time away for me. I attend retreats at an Episcopal Convent in Augusta Georgia. I’ve made great friends there, and I look forward to that time of rest and renewal.
As far as ambitions, I hope to become a better speaker. I’d like to use my skills and passion to help mothers and babies. I might go back to school one day and work on a Master’s Degree. Who knows, I might even write a book.
Overall, my life is pretty simple. I live in the country on 16 acres of land. I am still happily married to that guy I in high school. We have 4 amazing children and wonderful friends. For me, these are the most important things in this “simple life” of mine.

Thank you.