My Favorite Literary Graduation Speech: What Is A Gallagher Girl?

*NOTE! MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES!!! PROCEED WITH CAUTION!*




 
"What is a Gallagher Girl?
When I was eleven I thought I knew the answer to that question. That was when the recruiters came to see me. They showed me brochures and told me they were impressed by my test scores and asked if I was ready to be challenged. And I said yes. Because that was what a Gallagher Girl was to me then, a student at the toughest school in the world.

What is a Gallagher Girl?
When I was thirteen I thought I knew the answer to that question. That was when Dr. Fibs allowed me to start doing my own experiments in the lab. I could go anywhere—make anything. Do anything my mind could dream up. Because I was a Gallagher Girl. And, to me, that meant I was the future.

What is a Gallagher Girl?
When I was seventeen I stood on a dark street in Washington, D.C., and watched one Gallagher Girl literally jump in front of a bullet to save the life of another. I saw a group of women gather around a girl whom they had never met, telling the world that if any harm was to come to their sister, it had to go through them first.

What is a Gallagher Girl?
I’m eighteen now, and if I’ve learned anything, it’s that I don’t really know the answer to that question. Maybe she is destined to be our first international graduate and take her rightful place among Her Majesty’s Secret Service with MI6. Maybe she is someone who chooses to give back, to serve her life protecting others just as someone once protected her. Who knows? Maybe she’s an undercover journalist. An FBI agent. A code breaker. A queen. Maybe she’s even a college student. Or maybe she’s so much more.

You know, there was a time when I thought that the Gallagher Academy was made of stone and wood, Grand Halls and high-tech labs. When I thought it was bulletproof, hack-proof, and yes, fireproof. And I stand before you today happy for the reminder that none of those things are true. Yes, I really am. Because I know now that a Gallagher Girl is not someone who draws her power from that building. I know now with scientific certainty that it is the other way around.


What is a Gallagher Girl? She’s a genius, a scientist, a heroine, a spy. And now we are at the end of our time at school, and the one thing I know for certain is this: A Gallagher Girl is whatever she wants to be.
And, most of all, she is my sister."


 -From United We Spy by Ally Carter, book six in the Gallagher Girl series.