Name: Fan Request: The Only Student In Her High School Class | Letterman
Uploaded: 2024-03-15T15:00:11.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Fan Request: The Only Student In Her High School Class | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2024-03-15. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Fan Request: The Only Student In Her High School Class | Letterman' from Letterman on Comedy Buff. Published 2024-03-15. Transcript available.

Last Saturday in South Dakota, our next guest celebrated her graduation from
Harold High School
as the sole member of the class of 2002. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome
new graduate April
Kleinschmidt. April, welcome to the show. Thank you. Welcome to New York City.
Have you been to
New York before? No, I haven't. This is my first time. And what is your
impression on your first
visit? It's huge. It's exciting, isn't it? Yes, it is. Yeah. Now, I told part
of this story,
perhaps badly, at the beginning of the show, but you were the only member of
your senior class.
Is that right? How big is the high school altogether? There's 15 from grades 9
through 12.
So the entire student body was 15? Yes. Wow. And how is it that you were the
only senior?
Well, last year there were three of us, and one of them decided to graduate
early,
and the other one transferred schools, leaving me by myself. Well, did anybody
say, you know,
just, you don't even need to come in anymore, or you might as well stay at home?
We don't,
we don't, there's nothing much we can do here with one person. Did you have
regular classes and stuff?
Yeah, most of my classes were just me and one of the teachers. And then I had a
few classes that
were over the VTEL system, which is a TV program, and it's got two TVs. One
shows me,
and the other shows the site that the television program is coming from with
the teacher at that
site, and we could talk back and forth through live television through that.
And, and, uh,
when there's only one person in the senior class, uh, I guess I know that you
don't have a football
team, right? You do? I mean, is there a football team at the school? Well,
actually, we co-op with a
neighboring town. Oh, so you pair up with another school? Yes. And, and do you,
was there a prom?
Did you have a senior prom? No, actually, instead of a prom, we go on a senior
trip,
but since there was only...
And where, where did you go? Well, actually, instead of just having me go on a
trip by myself,
I, um, the juniors helped me raise the money, and then we went on a trip to
Hawaii.
You, and so, the juniors helped you raise the money, and then everybody, how
many in that group went to Hawaii?
Three. Three!
Now, now, now, do you feel like you got a, a, a better education because you
were the only person in the
senior class, or do you, do you think maybe you'd done better at a school with,
with more classmates?
No, actually, I think I got a better education being the only one, because if I
didn't understand
anything, all I had to do was like, well, wait a minute, I don't understand
that, and they can't be
like, well, most of the class gets it, so we have to move on.
That's right. I see. And,
and, and, and how, how many teachers did you have your senior year?
Um, including the teachers that I had on VTEL, I had five or six, I think.
Five or six. Well, that seems, I mean, that seems just about right for, for
anybody. And, and you were the, uh, you were the valedictorian of your
graduating class, is that?
Yes, I was.
Uh-huh. And, and, and what did you tell yourself?
Oh, what are you, did you have a, a speech and stuff?
Yeah, at graduation, I did have a valedictorian speech.
And you gave it to the rest of the student body, right?
Well, the way I started out with my speech was I started out saying that in
most instances, I would be talking about my classmates and how much fun we had
throughout high school, but in my case, I couldn't do that.
Uh-huh. So, I talked about my own high school experience with basketball and
drama and everything that I did throughout high school, and then I addressed
the underclassmen for a while and gave them my advice.
Uh-huh. And, and what advice did you impart to the underclassmen?
I told them to take their high school experience for all it is worth, because
there's nothing that you will experience quite like it, and I told them to
stand for something or you'll fall for anything.
Uh-huh. Ah. Pretty good.
Uh, and, and, uh, you're going to college now?
Yes.
Now, what is that going to be like when you go into your first class and you
see other people?
What will that do to you?
Well, it'll be kind of different, I think, but I'm really looking forward to it.
Yeah, I would think so. And, and what, what are you going to study?
Special education.
Oh, oh, good for you. God bless you. And where will you be going to college?
Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota.
And, uh, what, what is life, uh, like for you? And your, your town is Harold,
South Dakota?
What, what is the population of Harold?
209, including in the city, or town, and then the surrounding area in the
country, like where I live.
Uh-huh. And, uh, is it, uh, obviously agricultural?
Yes, it's very much agricultural. We, that's what most of the people that live
in the town do.
Uh, my house, my dad is a farmer and rancher and he's also a tour guide for pheasant
hunting.
Oh, so that, that's great. In, in the off season he supplements the income by
taking folks out for pheasant hunters and things like that?
Yes.
Well, that sounds like a pretty good life. You, you enjoy life there in South
Dakota?
Yes, I do.
Do you ever go nuts and kind of creep up into North Dakota?
Ever see what's going on up there?
Take a look, what's happening?
What did, what did you do, uh, to celebrate the night that you graduated?
Well, I wasn't, well, actually I went to pier and my boyfriend and I went out
to eat and then we rented a couple of movies.
Right.
Well, that's all right, no, that's, that's all right. I've, I've done that
myself.
Uh, and what are you going to do for the summer? Do you have plans for the
summer?
I am going to work in pier at Eastside Neighborhood Center. It's a daycare
center.
All right. And then your college begins, uh, when in the, in the late summer,
early fall? What, what time?
In September.
September. Well, I, I hope that turns out to be a love experience, a lovely
experience. And
your folks must be very proud of you, aren't they?
Yes.
Do you have brothers and sisters?
Yes, I have four.
Uh, oh, and they're younger than you?
Uh, I'm right in the middle.
You're right in the middle. And did they have other people in their, uh,
graduating class or were you?
Yeah, actually they did.
Yeah.
Both of my older siblings had nine in their graduating class.
Wow. My God, it's a regular convention.
Well, we got you some roses for your graduation.
Nice meeting you, April.
Thank you very much. Enjoy your time in New York City.
Say hello to the folks in South Dakota.
We'll be right back with Patty Loveless, everybody.