Graduation Speech : A Speech

In the 2005 commencement address at Kenyon College, David Foster Wallace delivered an unusual message to the graduates. He uses a unique approach to the typical conventions of a commencement speech in order to catch the attention of the graduates and to reinforce the honesty of his message. By defying their expectations, he urges them to consider their own obliviousness and to look past their own natural biases in order to see what’s truly right in front of them.

"This is Water" a speech written by David Foster Wallace, was first heard by the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon college has become one of the wisest commencement speeches of all time. While many people in the audience were expecting a congratulation or for the speaker to tell them how they should cherish these moments and send them off. Wallaces, on the other hand, conveys many deep truths about the reality of a mundane life. His speech is one that will never be forgotten. By using rhetorical strategies pathos, ethos and logos, David Foster Wallace does a great job of highlighting the dull moments of adult life and persuading the audience to be conscious about every situation rather than just feeling negative towards it, or living life on the "default setting".

The Great Being saith and I quote: “Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom”.

Good Morning. Hope your Friday 2/10/2017 finds you well today. So Terry, I believe it almost 3 weeks casting and I try sending to the web week ago, I sent a letter in answer for Hope and Naomi. Even fought whether send the letter to find someone would respond probably and because no one got back to me could you please answer... Then when we got home last night 2/10/17from practice Naomi asking again did someone call, did we receive message it would ok that no call ,if no every said that everyone would receive word. No tears, this week like last week or; they said would call everyone, and even If they did not get in. Hope Elizabeth has slightly autism so she’d believed people when they have said something is going to happen like calling, they

Over 5000 days of wondering - wondering if we would ever make it to this day. Tonight marks the culmination of this long journey- we are the graduating class of 2014.

Attention Grabbing Step: After years of writing papers, doing homework, taking an occasional pop quiz, and of course taking countless exams, it is that time that we all anticipate…Graduation!

As the summer of 2014 came to an end, I was looking forward to the quiet, still days ahead. For the first time in twenty years I had a planned break, my calendar was intentionally cleared for the rest of the year. For as long as I could remember my life was similar to a roller coaster, traveling full speed in constant motion through ups and downs, and a break was imperative. A couple years earlier, I unexpectedly quit my job of fifteen years to home school my youngest son who was struggling to survive amongst many learning challenges after a disheartened school meeting. Learning how to endure day to day was met with a set of new challenges, from trying to teach a difficult child to read, to figuring out how to budget a family on a single income. As time went on, life began to slow down, my son worked hard to close his educational gaps and was eager to return to school and I, for the first time in my life, was looking forward to taking a step back before contemplating the future. At this point I was unaware of the direction my life would soon take and how it would bring me to question what I knew about myself. In life we are often conditioned to stay connected to what is known, fearful to take risks, however life is filled with endless opportunities if we are willing to face our fears, take risks and be open to learning something new.

The Fall of 2010 was about as normal as every other fall that preceded it. The leaves changed colors and the weather got colder. It also meant that school was back in session. To me, fall time meant athletics were back in season. I was entering 7th grade and I was bummed that summer was over but excited because I was almost a year older. I was about to turn thirteen years old; I could almost call myself a teenager. I had always participated in sports but this was my first year that I could play middle school sports. I tried out for the football team and made it. I officially was an athlete for my school and I could not have been more excited. I felt like I mattered. My relationship with my father was like any other. Or at least I thought. As the season went on, the only time he came to anything of mine was to pick me up from practice or after an away game; to make it worse, he never came to any of my games which disappointed me. But it never occurred to me that something was weird between us.

We live in a time in which everything is categorized by lists, whether it’s a dreaded school rubric or a David Letterman Top Ten List. As the millennium turns, we are deluged with lists: the best books of the millennium, the greatest songs of the millennium, the most influential people of the millennium. Personally, I may be sick of all these lists, but no graduating class of 2006 could let this occasion slip by without one more list: The Top Ten Things I Learned in High School. So listen along and see if your experience parallels mine. Here goes:

As the summer of 2014 came to an end I was looking forward to the quiet, still days ahead. For the first time in twenty years I had a planned break, my calendar was intentionally cleared for the rest of the year. For as long as I could remember my life was like a roller coaster traveling full speed in constant motion through ups and downs, a break was imperative. A couple years earlier without preparation I took a life altering risk, I quit my job of fifteen years to home school my youngest son who was struggling to survive amongst many learning challenges after a disheartened school meeting. Learning how to endure day to day was met with a set of new challenges, from trying to teach a difficult child to read, to figuring out how to budget

When I accepted my admission to Vassar, it was to pursue my second degree in dramatic arts. I came under the pretext that this was a “prestigious” program and that I would gain an immense amount of knowledge and experience as a drama student. Almost immediately I began to realize the many flaws within the dynamics of this department. Coming into the program you are required to take the intro course regardless of your theatrical experience. This requirement stands in your way of taking any other course in the department so it is a class that is a hot commodity. Somehow, in a class that originally had 39 students, only 3 of us were phenotypically Black. There can of course be other students who identify in this way, but their body does not read blackness the way mine and the body of my other 2 classmate do.

Hi Mrs.Reid it’s honestly the biggest pleasure to be in your class, and it’s obvious that you’re a great teacher. You already told us so much about yourself and I think it’s awesome how open you are with us. So, I wanted to return the favor by telling you probably the greatest memory I have in my entire life. I mean not that I lived too long to have tons and tons of memories but still this memory to me will never be replaced or memories it’s kinda like over a span of days you know what I mean? Believe it or not this story begins at my first job technically last job McDonalds while I was working drive-thru.

I want to thank everyone here for participating in our graduation ceremony. This event marks the end of our middle school career and the beginning of a fresh experience. You might have noticed that many of us has gone through significant changes. Maybe you still remember the first day of when we were all just 6th graders wandering through the hallways. Trying to discover new things. Some of us forgot the the passcodes for lunch and most of us were eager to find friends. We have changed a lot since then and continue to change for the better.

Wow! Say it isn’t true, I cannot believe that this is the last session of class. I can remember when I first enrolled into the class and what my thoughts were. I was very excited to be taking the class and I was very curious as to what the course would be like. Prior to this class my entire coursework have been online and this is the first time in some time that I was on campus so I was really ready for that in class interaction. I can remember telling my mentors and my Godly counsel that I was taking multicultural counseling and they were very excited about the work of the Lord they see in my life. I was also worried about the class and I wondered if I would be able to adjust and I would be able to interact with the class and professor. Well, I guess worried isn’t the right word to use I would say I didn’t know what to expect from the course. I got much more than I ever hoped for.

English class seemed to be the most dreadful to take within school. Writing essays for most of my grade in a class is not what I was looking forward too. When I entered college I knew that it would be one of many challenging classes I would have to take. Starting from the lowest English class to moving on up, the writing assignments became longer and more thought out. The time came when I got into this class that I knew more work was going to have to be put into essays and thus brought out what I had not seen before in my work progress.