In the early summer of 2008 I gave the following speech at my high school graduation. As senior class president I was given a 5 minute window in which to speak about just about anything. Awarded with such a great responsibility and opportunity I spent 2 months writing upwards of 10 drafts of my speech before settling on the version I have posted here. And now, more than three years later, I can't say I would change anything I said. I regard this speech as one of my best writings and am glad I can still share it.
York Suburban High School Graduation Address 2008
As we gather here to celebrate the completion of our high school career -- for some reason I’m not thinking about my high school career. I’m thinking about the SAT’s, and there’s a very good explanation for that.
I took the SAT’s for the 6th time in October of last year and on that test there was an essay prompt that I couldn’t stop thinking about. The prompt was:
“Do people need to unlearn or reject many of their assumptions and ideas”
unlearn ,
reject,
assumptions,
I began searching my mind for any quote I could use to help develop my paper and just one came to mind. In the movie Men in Black, agent K (played by Tommy lee Jones) says to agent J (played by Will Smith) “1500 years ago everyone KNEW the earth was the centre of the universe, 500 years ago everyone KNEW the earth was flat, and 15 minutes ago you KNEW humans were alone on this planet, think what you’ll KNOW tomorrow”
And at that point I had never been surer of an answer in my life. That statement, better than any other, exemplifies how quickly and drastically our understanding changes. And it pointed out why unlearning, and rejecting our assumptions is vital to the well being of man kind. For what we KNOW one day we might not KNOW the next.
About this time in my thought process I realized I should probably write something down if I wanted to avoid taking the test a 7th time. So I spent the next 20 minutes franticly writing but the next 8 months carefully thinking. And I hope this message will stay with you as long as it has stayed with me. If we simply ask questions, challenge authority, reject our assumptions, unlearn the learned, think for ourselves, and dare to be different, we can make the leap from children to adults, and from great people to exceptional people.
Now what does this have to do with us? Well, throughout all of history the greatest discoveries have been made by those who dared to question what they had been taught. Aristotle, Sophocles, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Edison …. And the list goes on. And im not sure we all understand that. We all have the power to change the way people think, act, and live.
In my reading recently I came across an excerpt from a speech given by Barrack Obama to the graduating class of (Wes-lee-an) University in Connecticut. And I would like to read for you a portion of his speech because it conveys the ideas I have been sharing with an eloquence unmatched by this English CP student.
“Each of you will have the chance to make your own discovery in the years to come. And I say ‘chance’ because you won’t have to take it. There is no community service requirement in the real world; no one forcing you to care. You can take your diploma, walk of this stage and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and all the other things or money culture says you should buy. You can choose to narrow your concerns and live your life in a way that tries to keep your story separate from America’s. But I hope you don’t.”
He goes on to challenge the class to seek opportunities because their future depends on it.
Personally you are greater than the sum of your parts, and collectively our greatness can change the world. If only we apply ourselves as individuals first, and are daring enough to ask questions. However there is an underlying problem with this way of thinking. If we “dare to be different” simply for the sake of being different then we become the ultimate cliché, we become rebels without a cause.
For the last four years I have heard people say the same line over and over and over regarding high school. “These are the best years of your life, enjoy them”. And that statement is fine when it’s thrown around as a feel good pick-me-up, for there were times in the last four years when that is exactly what I needed to hear. But now that it’s over, we need to be told the truth. High school is, in no way shape or form, and accurate representation of ANY part of the real world. Not to detract at all from the great accomplishment that is the acquisition of a high school diploma – we have put in approximately 2000 school days, and completed an astronomical amount of work in the last 13 years. But we need to realize that we have just completed the easiest portion of our entire lives.
The challenges that lay before us cannot be described in any way but annoying cliché because only poetic language can convey their enormity. And when I say challenges I am talking about very different challenges than we, as students, are used to. I am not talking about research papers, remembering homework, or making a sports team. I am talking about challenges that appeal to those in the real world -- Living on your own, both in college and beyond, managing your own money, and being a productive member of society. Even our class song portrays this idea when it says “every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end”. When you leave here tonight – that’s the transition. This stage will change us from students to alumni.
So (As you receive/ as you received) your diploma (consider this/ I hope you considered) [that], In Kindergarten you KNEW magic was real, In 4th grade you KNEW Pluto was a planet, and in 8th grade you KNEW how your high school career would play out, Think what you’ll KNOW tomorrow.
Goodnight and goodluck.
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