We interrupt that one video of the cat playing the piano and you trying to figure out how to use google plus and/or find a reason to do so for a special announcement:
You are not special.
Why do we feel the need to point this out? Probably for the same reason that an English Teacher from Wellesley High School, a school that has more money then wherever you called High School, decided to make a speech elucidating why the graduating generation is not special:
“Whether spray tanned prom queen or intergalactic xbox assassin, each of you is dressed exactly the same. Your diploma, but for your name, is exactly the same. All of this is as it should be because you’re not special. You’re not exceptional.”
His message is now going viral, popping him up on CBS reports and morning news shows in front of ladies who now consider him the most popular middle aged man not named Christian Gray (you’re a little special if you understand this reference).
Across the country no fewer than 3.2 million students are graduating right now…that’s 37,000 valedictorians…Even if you are 1 and a million, on a planet of 7 billion, there are 7,000 people just like you. The universe has no center, therefore you can not be it.
It’s a message that at its root is a positive one; meant to give a class of a couple hundred of students (mostly of the “privileged” variety) a harsh reminder that no one will be holding your hand from now on (at least they shouldn’t be). You’re not special anymore, you’re not under anyone’s roof who thinks you can do arguably no wrong — you’re on your way to living under a landlord’s roof and it’s probably going to be ten years behind on repairs.
But the speech in my eyes is rather counter intuitive — the fact that he has to tell a group of kids they are not special seems to indicate that they have been directly treated as such.You are not special, even though you have me, an obviously brilliant man as your english teacher. You may not be special because probability had it that you, the byproduct of a stable household, who could drive a modestly priced automobile to school and had teachers that drove you to study five hours a night, were a shoe in to get to your commenecement ceremony.
Meanwhile, a handful of the 3.2 million other graduates, probably have a different speech — they don’t need to be reminded they are not special, they have to be reminded to survive, to not let someone rip them off on their college loans or to avoid getting taxed by the IRS because no one told them the difference between a W2 and W9.
One would think those kids are at least a little bit special, they defied the odds and graduated because they chose to themselves, not because it was a pre-ordained right of being a part of a factory that generated graduates instead of drop-outs.
Americans have come to love accolades more than genuine achievement. That has somehow become the point. No longer is it how you play the game, or how you grow…it’s what does this get me…I hope you’ve learned enough to recognize how little you know…I urge you to do whatever you do for no other reason than that you love it and that you believe in its importance. Resist the easy comforts of complacences.
While it’s incredibly refreshing and uplifting to hear these words, where does this tendency that he speaks of come from? Our generation or the generation abusing social security because they were always led to believe they were “special?”
Our generation, and the current cusp of graduates, have lived through the fallout and realities of 9/11, have been the first to pay for four dollar gas, have been instrumental in voting for and supporting a black president. These don’t make us feel special but more or less unique, perhaps a better way of describing it…alone.
We are being left to support a world that is in debt, can’t figure out what war is, and has allowed government to supersede country. For every YouTube video and Tweet that McCullough not so subtly points out as being pointless, a kaleidoscope capturing our gaze instead of a window envisioning the world we need to further develop, it would behoove our generation to look at what makes us unique, our ability to communicate, and use that to re-define what “special” even means.
In many ways, McCullough’s words are truer than ever, we must: “Dream big. Work hard…Don’t wait for passion to find you — get up, get out, and explore.”
Those don’t make us special, they make us human. Given how differently some older generations have chosen to treat one another, that may be sending a mixed message, but given our generation’s knack for spreading messages and connecting with one another, we have the opportunity to rejuvenate the world and do something unique…dare we say special.
That’s one message that should be universal.
Paul Nyhart – who has written 891 posts on The Jace Hall Show.
Paul Nyhart is the Head Editor and Writer of JaceHallShow.com covering everything from game reviews and previews to the cultural impact of video games.

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