Greaney takes first in Rotary Contest

Senior Brian Greaney took first place in the Rotary Four Test Speech Contest and will move on to compete at the district level.

Eight juniors and seniors entered the contest and a group of judges consisting of high school teachers and administrators narrowed the competition down to three: Brian Greaney, Drew Herron and Kathleen Greaney. The three finalists moved on to compete at the 'Club Level.' Judges from the Rotary Club heard each of the finalists speeches before bestowing top honors to Brian.

The speeches had to be five to seven minutes in length and the contestants could pick a topic of their choice. The one requirement was that their speeches had to address the following four questions. Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

In addition to winning the local contest, Greaney was thrilled to hear he has received the college scholarship of his dreams.

After offers from several prestigious colleges, including Tulane University, senior Brian Greaney got the offer he'd been waiting for - a full-ride scholarship to Notre Dame.

Greaney was invited to visit the college over spring break with all expenses paid and jumped at the opportunity. Brian stayed in the dorm, visited classes, met with professors and toured the state-of-the-art facilities.

"I was just amazed," said Greaney. "I knew it was a really good college but it was even more than I expected. They'd just put in a $70 million science center and it was just amazing. I was very excited about that since that's the field I want to go into."

At the close of his visit Greaney knew if there was any way possible his first choice would be to join the ranks of the Fighting Irish. Four days after Greaney arrived home he received an official letter from Notre Dame offering him a four-year, full-ride scholarship. Greaney accepted the offer and told The Nugget he plans to pursue a degree in BioChemistry with hopes to become a medical researcher.