MAYOR: Well. What a day this is! - Special day. Today is our centennial the one hundreds anniversary of the founding of Sunnydale, and I know what that means to all you kids: not - a darn thing. Because today something much more important happens: today you all graduate from high school. Today all the pain, all the work, all the excitement is finally over. And what's a hundred years of history compared to that? You know what kids? -

BUFFY: Oh my God. He's going to do the entire speech.

WILLOW: Man, just ascend already.

BUFFY: Evil!

MAYOR: - for all of you it may be that there is a place in Sunnydale's history, whether you like it or not. It's been a long road getting here. For you- for Sunnydale. There has been achievement, joy, good times,- and there has been grief. There's been loss. Some people who should be here today- aren't. But we are. - Journey's end. And what is a journey? Is it just- distance traveled? Time spent? No. It's what happens on the way, it the things that happen to you. At the end of the journey you're not the same. Today is about change. Graduation doesn't just mean your circumstances change, it means you do. You ascend- to a higher level. Nothing will ever be the same. Nothing.

(eclipse begins)

MAYOR: And so as we look back on- (flinch) on the events that brought us to this day (flinch)

BUFFY: Come on.

MAYOR: We- (flinch) we must all-(screams) It has begun. My destiny. (smiles) It's a little sooner then I expected I had this whole section on civic pride- (shuffles cue cards) But I guess we'll just skip to the big finish!

• Buffy vs the Mayor

written by: Joss Whedon; . Full transcript at:
http://www.studiesinwords.de/56grad-2.html