You’re scheduled to give your high school’s valedictorian speech.
But your dad dies the day before.
What do you do? Ask to be excused?
Everyone would understand if you didn’t give the address.
But Alem Hadzic bravely got up before the students, faculty and families of Early College High School in the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch, Texas, and gave the speech on Thursday.
And there was more.
For the first time, except for a few close friends, people who knew Hadzic learned of the burden he had carried since January after his father’s diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
“My father died yesterday,” the 18-year-old graduate told the crowd, which audibly responded in shock. “And I attended his funeral today, right before graduation.”
Indeed, his dad’s funeral ended just 45 minutes earlier, WFAA-TV in Dallas reported.
“That’s why my shoes are muddy,” he told the crowd. “That’s why my arms are shaking — because I had to carry him to his grave and bury him.”
Alem credited his father, Miralem, an immigrant from Bosnia, for making him who he was. The elder Hadzic had delivered pizzas to help his family get ahead.
“I can’t stand up here and pretend I want to be doing this speech right now,” he told the audience.
“But I can’t throw something away he worked so hard for me to achieve. That’s why I am going to go to college and I am going to spend every hour of every day working as hard as I can to achieve all my goals.
“Because that’s what he wanted, and I’m going to do it for him.”
In an interview with WFAA, Alem said, “I had to go to my dad’s funeral. I had to do it for him. But I also had to go to my graduation, and I also had to do that for him.”
His father’s death and the opportunity to speak publicly about it had a profound effect on Alem.
“I never felt more alone that day,” he said. “I never felt more alone than right before I had to give that speech.
“And that all changed when I looked in the audience. I saw a room full of people people crying. I saw people being moved by what I was saying.”
The reaction to Alem’s speech continued after the commencement ceremony, he told KDFW-TV’s “Good Day” program.
“I didn’t know any of them, but they came up to me,” he said. “They made me feel better. They wanted to take pictures with me.
“They told me how strong I was, and it made me feel so much better. It made me feel so good on such a dark day. It was really what I needed.”
Alem, who plans to study chemical engineering at the University of Texas, Austin, demonstrated poise, bravery and dedication, which made him much the center of attention that day.
But there was an unseen individual who also demonstrated great accomplishment at the Early College High School commencement.
Alem praised him with words that day.
And all could see how the character, gratitude and bearing of the young man directed honor toward the name and memory of his late father, Miralem Hadzic.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
