Later today, I am interviewing with three provosts representing the University of Maryland regarding a student speaker position allotted for the impending graduation ceremony. Below is a transcription of my speech; wish me luck. Fellow graduates, my name is Nick Gregory, and as someone who majored in government and politics, the declarations of John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Plato, and Cicero, for instance, have impacted my life in ways I had never thought possible. But one distinct man of study, Nietzsche, once provided a quote that will not only direct the rest of this speech, it should both enlighten and guide all of you for the rest of your lives. This statement reads: The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” In other words, while engaging the world, do not sell your individuality and its accompanying strengths to those who expect complete obedience to their views. To be sure, going against the grain may produce feelings of isolation, but the realization that personal intelligence, ideas, and creativity can destroy social barriers and create positive change, promotes a certain courageousness of spirit. After entering the workforce or any variety of postgraduate school, you must challenge conventional wisdom and assert what you feel is the best course of action. Become a proactive animal, yet tame those instincts conducive to intellectual uniformity, for the consequences of giving in will invalidate every commitment of integrity sustained with this university. Honors bestowed to you all this evening do not serve as a validation of the inevitable job search; rather, they are a collective symbol for the application of your gifted minds to the issues we face societally. Therefore, continue cultivating self-expression and exercise it relentlessly, yet please realize failures often precede successful implementations of specific solutions to problems. On the contrary, celebrate the strength derived from loss, which leads to goals informed by the resolve to persevere. Through conserving these qualities, the lion within learns to question authority when the urge is tenacious, and contest the opinions of fellow colleagues via passionate discussion, as well as lead initiatives with an unbreakable backbone, as opposed to taking charge of a situation out of pure fear. I am not urging any of you to ultimately uproot beneficial traditions, nor reject your future boss to the fullest extent, but do society a favor and attack master narratives when imperative. In connection with individuality and fortitude is the concept of determining one’s professional purpose. As fields such as politics, law, engineering, the environment, and public health continue to evolve considerably, so will a recent graduate’s perception of his or her role in broader contexts. Notwithstanding, at the moment, as I speak, there are a number of people within the aforementioned disciplines seeking to maintain the status quo at all costs. My wish is that, along with developments of resilience and idiosyncratic thinking, you consistently strive to epitomize a cause critical of complacency. We currently live in a country composed of doubters, though spearheading a movement—whether it be large-scaled, small-scaled, action based, purely cognitive, or a combination of these types—can advocate principled beliefs inspiring confidence between diverse groups of people. Great leaders throughout history never enabled others to detract from their spirited convictions, so all of you, as graduates of a commanding institution, fight on for the sake of advancing unique ideals. After all is said and done, in the words of rapper Kendrick Lamar, “The sky is falling, the wind is calling. Stand for something or die in the morning.” Class of 2014, proceed to define yourselves without exception.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 17:20:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015