World Convention of Truly Amazing People

      Welcome, my friends, to the World Convention of Truly Amazing People.
         Most of you are here by your own nomination. You have sent in an application highlighting your most distinguished characteristics, the exact reasons you are truly amazing, and you are now here due to our amazing highly selective admissions committee. As presenter and judge of the Most Amazing Person in the World Award, I have read every last one of your applications, and I have made my decision. But first, I would like to tell you a little story.

One night, amongst all of your many truly amazing applications, I came across one that was a little different than I expected. Like most, it was in a brown parcel, postage paid, the addresses neatly laid out on the front. But when I pulled out the application, it felt odd in my hand. It wasn’t fine and smooth, and when I looked down, I noted that the application had been meticulously taped together – almost as if it had been ripped into hundreds of little pieces. Puzzled, I searched the parcel more thoroughly, and pulled out a letter. I will read it to you now.


Dear Whoever is Reading This,
         My name is Aya Miyabe. This application isn’t mine, nor does it mention me. By all rights, it should be in a dumpster in Tokyo. But it’s not, and I am sending this to you for a reason.
         This application belongs to a close friend of mine, whose name is Chika Tatsumura. My family owns a gymnastics studio, and Chika has been attending since she was four. We were in the same class, and we became fast friends, though I quit a few years ago.
         But Chika continued attending, even after I quit. For all the ten years I have known her, gymnastics has consumed her life. Chika loves gymnastics, so much so that when her family was in some financial trouble a few years ago and could not afford to pay for gymnastics lessons, she did as many chores as she could for our studio so she could continue to attend. She was only eight at the time.
         And Chika has not been so passionate about gymnastics with no results. In fact, she was recently named to the Japanese national team for the Gymnastics Junior World Championships. Chika, upon learning about this, was overjoyed. She was so happy that  immediately after receiving the news, she ran out onto the street – straight into the pathway of a speeding car.
That night, Chika broke her leg, her dreams, and her confidence. Throughout her entire life, she had been gymnastics, and now she didn’t have that. To have a broken leg at 14 is something most of us get over, but it ruined Chika’s entire gymnastics career. The night she found out that she could probably never be a professional gymnast, she told me while tearing up her application that nobody could ever consider her truly amazing.
“I’m a gymnast!” she yelled at me, sobbing. “I’m nothing without gymnastics. I can’t be anybody without gymnastics.”
I disagree. I know that Chika is an amazing person, with or without gymnastics, and I hope that you will help me let her know that. She is passionate, dedicated, almost always optimistic, and one of the nicest people I know. And though she tends to be almost bipolar at some moments, she is one of the most loyal friends that I could ever have asked for. She has helped me in countless ways over the last ten years, and I hope that you will help me finally repay her.

My friends, as you have all probably figured out by now, I listened to Miss Miyabe’s request, and the recipient of this year’s award is Miss Chika Tatsumura!!

Now please, don’t start clapping. Unfortunately, neither Miss Miyabe nor Miss Tatsumura were able to make it tonight. In fact, they are currently both in Kyoto, Japan, where the Junior Olympics in Gymnastics is being held this year. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Chika Tatsumura, through her passion and dedication and the fact that her leg was not as badly broken as doctors initially thought, was able to regain nearly all of her previous power and strength, and is competing in the Junior Olympics. I offer Miss Tatsumura my congratulations and the best of luck – and I hope you will too.

Please, have a good night!!