May 4 may be a few weeks away but U student Lisa Devashrayee already plans to spend that time at the university. For more on this story click here.

On that day, Devashrayee, an English major at the University of Utah, will speak at the Commencement Exercises.

&I just thought it would be an interesting opportunity,& said Devashrayee, who will be graduating with honors.

Officials invited the top 300 students out of a graduating class of 6,000 to speak at the event, said Mike Preece, the Associated Students of the University of Utah Senior Class President and head of the Student Speaker Selection Committee.

The committee, composed of 15 faculty and students, selected Devashrayee out of 64 student applicants.

Speeches were rated by the committee on a scale of one to seven, on everything from creativity to content, said Anna West, a member of the committee.

&When we read all of the talks, [the committee] actually gave her the highest point value,& Preece said.

The field then narrowed to 10 final applicants, all of whom read their speeches to the committee.

&She spoke about a personal experience and related it to the experience of education&It was inspirational,& said Carolyn Hebert, the administrative assistant to the vice president of student affairs, who also helped select the speaker.

However, &the top 10 speeches are always very close,& she said.

The committee also chose Sarah Jardine and Jennifer Rose as first and second alternates, respectively.

Devashrayee will receive a cash prize of $300. Jardine and Rose will each get $200, West said.

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