"Did teacher David McCullough do students a favor by telling them they are not special?"
Find his speech here:
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regio … t_special/
See interview here:
http://politics.kfyi.com/cc-common/news … e=10186074
Well written and delivered. A message for all ages. Excellent speech. Same applies to Tom Brokaw, "The Greatest Generation" and calling the US the greatest nation on earth. No high horse needed for doing the work, every day.
A wake up call for graduates that we can all benefit from, though astrophysicists think a little too much of their own abilities:
"So think about this: even if you’re one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you. Imagine standing somewhere over there on Washington Street on Marathon Monday and watching sixty-eight hundred yous go running by. And consider for a moment the bigger picture: your planet, I’ll remind you, is not the center of its solar system, your solar system is not the center of its galaxy, your galaxy is not the center of the universe. In fact, astrophysicists assure us the universe has no center; therefore, you cannot be it."
Yes, he did them a favor. Loved the speech!
Wonderful speech! I wish my son could have heard this message when he graduated. In fact, I think I'll have to send it to him so he can still benefit from it. Then again, maybe he doesn't need to hear it; I think he's figured this one out on his own.
I think my generation needs more speeches like this.
I realized early on that no one out in the world is going to think I'm special, and that I'd have to work at it, but for those who don't I think a speech like this is necessary.
Great speech! And one that desperately needs to be heard and understood.
We are all unique, but no one is special above someone else. It sends the worst message to young people who already feel much more entitled than they should.
Life is full of everything we need to experience. Fortunately those who get his message will remember his words and understand.
Congrats to the 2012 graduates everywhere.
It is a priceless speech. With precision he covers points that too many teachers only have a vague idea about, much less too many parents. His words keep coming to mind:
"Resist the easy comforts of complacency, the specious glitter of materialism, the narcotic paralysis of self-satisfaction. Be worthy of your advantages. And read... read all the time... read as a matter of principle, as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life. Develop and protect a moral sensibility and demonstrate the character to apply it. Dream big. Work hard. Think for yourself. Love everything you love, everyone you love, with all your might. And do so, please, with a sense of urgency, for every tick of the clock subtracts from fewer and fewer; and as surely as there are commencements there are cessations, and you’ll be in no condition to enjoy the ceremony attendant to that eventuality no matter how delightful the afternoon."
I posted this on my Facebook the other day after my mom passed it on to me-- I only wish someone had given this speech at my graduation last year. Way too many kids were self-obsessed and convinced they were better than everyone else who was graduating. I hated high school because it was in a crappy area and the kids were just shy of being outright demons-- I'm not even exaggerating. They could be absolutely awful.
This was an excellent speech and I SO wish some of my old classmates could hear it.
Maybe they will yet hear it! So glad to know you posted it on FB! Hopefully, it will be popular enough to make the rounds.
I think in America the idea that everyone IS special has so taken root that we forget you sometimes need to teach people how to BE special. Yes, everyone is uniquely valuable and invaluably unique, but kids aren't given the tools they need to go out and conquer the world.
Well put. There's a lot of food for thought in the speech. Bravo to David McCullough for stepping up to bat in that arena.
I have to disagree, partially, with what you say here.
You see, kids are given the tools to conquer the world, as least as much as their individual talents will let them (we can't all be Napolean!).
The only tool needed we are born with - the one inside our skull. All other tools are secondary and must be gathered by the individual - they can't be given by anyone and retain much value.
That's a part of the problem I see today - people starting out want everything given to them. The idea of starting at the bottom and working (gasp - work?!) their way up to their dreams is foreign. They've been given anything and everything they ever wanted and expect that to continue. Their idea of tools is simply to have someone else provide for them, from education to experience to knowledge.
The difference is in "Their idea of tools…" as opposed to what CNeal pointed out from the speech. The right tools are not the little they have learned, the accolades, or even the love of family and friends. The author offered them a glimpse of what the right tools really are, giving them a chance to think about having a grownup perspective as opposed to the childish perspective that was fostered in them to that point.
If I'm "hearing" you correctly, what you're saying is that once we graduate high school, anything we get should be gotten on our own with no help from anybody. No training, no schooling, no mentoring.
Yeah, everybody is not going to be brilliant, but we need to help kids reach their potential. Right now we basically don't train them for the work that needs to be done. We kind of tell them to reach for the stars and then don't help them reach them. I'm not saying we need to hand things to kids, I think we do that now and that's why so many are so ill prepared for the real world.
I definitely agree with this. As a teacher, I see so many kids who come to high school without even beginning to realize their own potential. We are not preparing them for the "real world," but we're allowing them to believe that they can achieve their dreams. I wish it worked that way, but it doesn't.
This is a great speech because it bespeaks the truth. No amount of mollycuddling will make anyone special - except in their own opinion of themselves. No one is special despite the fact that we all have our own especial gifts and talents. In the sense that everyone and everything is unique - not even two snowflakes are similar - we can say that we are 'especially good at..." but it does not make us special. When we see ourselves as special it means there are others who are not. It causes division.
Nature does not discrimmate. Lighting kills people in the good old USA just as it does in Libya, Brazil, or Mongolia. This business of anyone being special is simply something made up by our own egos. We became healthier in our minds when we start to realize that.
I had him as a teacher, and he always emitted 100% sheer brilliance and, I believe, continues to do so. Here is a closer look at my opinion regarding the speech: http://kylie624.hubpages.com/hub/Welles … and-Stinks
by Stevennix2001 9 years ago
According to CBS news, a high school student was not only prevented from partaking in tradition where a valedictorian gives the graduation speech, but it seems now he's been banned from attending graduation entirely. The kid has already received a scholarship to go to Harvard this year, and...
by glendoncaba 15 years ago
We have argued back and forth about the merits or demerits of sharing the Christian gospel on this forum. Someone even started a thread in an effort to prove me wrong when i said that a VOCAL MAJORITY opposed the idea of quoting bible etc.So if you dont want to hear about bible and Jesus read...
by Michelle Liew 11 years ago
What is the most useful piece of advice anyone has given you?
by jerami 14 years ago
Having a wondering about it moment. I don't have an answer. That black hole at the center of our universe may not exert its pull upon the earth as much as it does on our sun. Our sun revolves around it. So it does pull upon the sun. Would...
by Peeples 10 years ago
Is life the only thing God gave to those with horrible lives? Is that worth faith?In a journey to understanding a thought process by many, I see many believe in God because of all he has given them. What about people who have been given nothing and have led a hard life? Are they believing because...
by graceinus 11 years ago
Do you believe God has given Grace to a select few or to everyone?When Christ died on the cross He took with Him the sins of the whole world. Does this mean His grace is extend to all or only to those who have faith in Him only? Isn't grace a free gift ? Isn't Grace now what the New Covenant is all...
Copyright © 2025 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2025 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |