How do you write an opening for a debate speech?

This speech should be unique to your own experience. Be sure to include stories, jokes or memories that others will remember so that it is more personal to them. You can start your speech by saying something like: "Friends, family, teachers and fellow students. I am filled with both happiness and sadness as I stand here before you today. I am eager to start the next chapter of my life and follow the road that stands before me, however, it upsets me to think I won't pass the familiar faces of those who attended __________, each and every day. It is so easy to waste our lives: our days, our hours, our minutes. ... It is so easy to exist instead of to live. I hope that each of you will "live" with every decision you make from now on. Remember, each day is a blessing and we should try and experience life to the fullest why we have a chance to."