Other Things Worthy of Your Time
Nokomis Senior Assembly
Speech
6/3/04
All eyes on me. Love it. I’m standing up here in front of hundreds of aspiring young minds and think that I’m better than every single one of them. Call me crazy if you want, but to do that you have to actually stand up and challenge my statement, and suggest that I’m not better than you, or anybody, if that’s your argument. And when we’re standing, face to face, or at least toe to toe—because you’re probably bigger than me—we’re suddenly caught up in something that’s driven the greatest men—and women—of all time: independent reasoning.
What makes anybody better than anybody else? All men are created equal, right? Yeah. But they don’t stay that way.
It depends on environment. Where you live and what you have to do to survive are going to affect how you approach your daily routine. It depends on opportunity. There are doors that open for some people that others will just never see. It depends on support. How many people—ever—have thrived on their own? The people around you, and what they have to offer, are just as important to your progress as anything you yourself possess. People can only be as great as other people would have them to be. Greatness isn’t something you are, it’s something you’re granted.
Still, what makes anybody better than anybody else?
It’s about experience. The things you go through shape the person you are. You learn from your mistakes, you rise from your achievements, and you live life through sensation. It’s about luck. Simple as that sometimes. Most of all, it’s about initiative. You choose the way you perceive things, and the way you approach them. Things are as good as you want them to be, and make them. If your environment holds you back, you choose to escape it. If your opportunity is lacking, you work to create new opportunities. Circumstance determines the way you live, but you can choose to determine your circumstances.
The truth is, all eyes aren’t on me right now. They’re on 150 or so other people standing around me that probably look exactly like me (although maybe not as dashing) in their burgundy robes because they’ve walked the same steps I have for the last four years. We’ve had the same environment—a high school atmosphere—regardless of if it’s in the back woods of Maine or some dead prairie in Montana. We’ve had the same opportunities. High school education is offered to everybody in this country so that they get the same chance to mean something in the world as everybody around them. We’ve all had support, whether it’s family, friends, or each other. The fact that they’re all sitting here, keeping their mouths shut while I run mine means they’re giving me my time, because they know I’ll eventually go sit and shut up for them.
High school’s been an experience to say the least. I’m glad that this year is over but I can’t say that I’m in any way glad that there won’t be a next year to come back to. And as far as luck goes, I know I’ve been lucky. I left a great situation 3,000 miles that way (?) to find myself here and now, looking at all the new friends and faces I’m going to miss just like I miss those old ones.
I envy you all, because if I had a choice, I’d want to do it all over again.
NOTES
I said I'd write the speech, but went about it the wrong way. I didn't receive a single vote when it came down to it, and didn't even vote for myself.
For the record, and as even those who did get to present their speeches, mine should have been read as well.