You are not special

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

This was stupid.

The message is lost on me because much of the wording was for wannabe funny shock value.

I thought the wannabe funny worked very well. He wasn't speaking to every high school graduate in the country, he was speaking to students graduating from the school where he teaches. He knew his audience and the knew him. He drew them in with that humor -- they clearly respond to it. And you can feel the tone shift (and the laughter mostly stop) when he becomes more serious.

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Oh and this speech may work when talking to a group of (relatively and predominantly) privileged white people in the U.S.A.

And I think that pretty much sums up the group to which he was speaking.

However, there are thousands of people across the U.S.A. whose high school graduation is exceptional. That is why some families cheer so loudly because they never thought their children would make it through high school--many people in their communities do not.

We were telling our kids that just last week when they commented about just that sort of cheering.

There's no doubt that different people and different groups of people need to hear different messages. My guess is that those for whom this speech resonates (and I admittedly am one) are those whose experience is primarily -- or at least frequently -- in that segment of society where all too often kids are conditioned to expect everything to be handed to them, to expect to be praised or rewarded for everything (maybe even get a trophy for everything), and to see such as expectations as normal, a given.

There's no doubt that this is not the speech that every graduating senior needs to hear. But there are students (and parents and others) who do need to hear it, or be reminded of it.

The point that I took from this speech (that many people have lost) is that the experience of learning is a lifelong experience. We keep learning and keep trying even when we will often NOT be #1.

That is the point I took from it -- that and that we "find ourselves" when we recognize the equal value of and give of ourselves to others. That resonates strongly with me.