I'm (17F) the valedictorian at my high school and, generally, the valedictorians give a speech at graduation. I hate public speaking. I've taken a public speaking class before and I think that I'm capable of actually giving the speech, but ,to me, it will never be worth the amount of anxiety and stress that I'll have to go through in the coming months. I've been feeling depressed lately and having to work on this speech is making it a lot worse. At this point, I would rather my parents take my phone, Xbox, and laptop for months than actually give this speech.

The principal has told me that it's totally fine if I don't want to give the speech. The problem is that my parents really want me to do it. I honestly don't know why.

I have siblings that were valedictorians and they gave a speech, so it's not like I'm the first/only one to be valedictorian. Basically, my reasoning is that my senior year/graduation should be something that I enjoy (or at least not be miserable during) because I've worked hard and this speech is making that very difficult. I don't think I'm just being lazy because I've had to do a lot of work to be valedictorian and I know how to do things I don't want to do.

My parents are amazing. They're really good to me and I don't want to disappoint them. I've already asked them if I have to do the speech and they said yes, but they can't force me to do it. They've given me so much and I really don't want to hurt them, but I think I need to advocate for myself.

So, would I be the asshole if I decide to not do the speech?

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