It's just a one miniute speach. Plan out the first things that come to mind and don't worry about it.
Yeah, I know... thanks ^_^;; I just realized that my list of keepsakes is kinda weird. There's...
20 dollar bill (given to me by my ex at one point to pay for mental health problems; keep it to remind me that shitty people can be nice sometimes)
Scrapbook (given to me by Thyme at my graduation. Marked the end of my needing to keep her from killing herself)
Bookmark (given to me by my autistic[?] cousin; first gift he ever gave anyone in the extended family)
Copy of Watchmen (given to me by a different cousin, at the end of a 5-year long feud)
Copy of Lang's Algebra (every time I open it I feel like crying because it smells like the math library; first graduate textbook I bought or understood)
Sprig of baby's breath (picked it up off the ground, freshman year of high school on Valentine's day. I have never received flowers and am holding onto it until then)
Crossword puzzle (made for me by a friend, who gave it to me on Valentine's in middle school, using clues and words from the novel I was writing at the time. Curse me for not noticing)
Bracelet (received as payment for tutoring from a Tibetan student)
Copy of Vitali Chaccone (worked on it for two years with my violin teacher. Never got anywhere. Horribly marked up and old, but I treasure it all the same)
Photograph of grandfather (was a mathematician. Died just before I got interested in math)
And I'm taking this course at a community college, so I'm all worried about looking too weird and esoteric and trying too hard to be some kind of intellectual when really I'm not any better than anyone else mathematics ha what mathematics.
And now I sound like Faulkner, which is bad.
But anyway, it's really hard to find something I own that has a story attached which:
a. Is not weird (i.e. does not highlight previous mental health issues)
b. Does not make me look like some sort of neeeeeeeerd
c. Is relatable to most people
d. Is interesting