maybe I'm in a state of panic because I remember the fear I felt about having to speak at graduation

LOL on the policy shift at your HS, acs. I would have been totally fine with that.
My HS must have been weird. Everyone with a 4.0 (yeah, didn't go any higher than that in those days) was called a valedictorian and had to speak at graduation. My class was super-weird, there were 7 of us (only two of whom took any classes *not* on the top academic track). Sounds like grade-inflation, but was really just competition that started in 7th and kept going. Never happened at that school before or since.
To answer EandCmom's OT q: state of panic is mostly due to end of the school year and having taken on too many responsibilities in too many places. At least the number of obligations is reduced with each day, but the panic is holding steady.