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Sample Of Persuasive Speech For College

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When I was in middle school, I ran track—specifically, the 1500 meter event. Every meet, I got last place. But I still received a ribbon—the same size, albeit not the color blue—of the first-place winner. As a kid who didn’t really care about sports, I was never too upset over getting last—after all, someone had to. But I was always baffled by the fact that despite putting in minimal effort, I was still earning ribbons. To me, participating isn’t an achievement, and nobody deserves a trophy for it—I assumed people participated for the enjoyment. I ran track, not for the ribbons, but because I loved running. However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to understand that everyone does not hold the same philosophies as I. Over the past four …show more content…

McCullough said it best, stating in his speech that, “we cheapen worthy endeavors, and building a Guatemalan medical clinic becomes more about the application to Bowdoin than the well-being of Guatemalans.” We take a class not for the knowledge, but for the grade we receive. We get involved in something not necessarily because we love it, but because we want to put it on our résumé. We volunteer not to better other’s lives but to have more service hours of our own. This is incredibly sad to me, and therefore, one of my favorite standout lines of McCullough’s speech is, “…do whatever you do for no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance.” I believe that it is so important for all things to be done out of real passion and genuine love for the task itself, not the benefits and accolades that may come because of the task. Enjoying the journey of your passions and projects is what ultimately makes a life well lived. Accolades should be seen as a “gratifying byproduct” of “what happens when you’re thinking about more important things.” When you focus on the journey, the accolades will come. So, as McCullough says, “Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.” Seize the day not so you can …show more content…

But if the person watching said YouTube clip finds genuine joy and laughter from the video, is it meaningless or meaningful? Although life is about genuine achievement, it’s also about genuine enjoyment. Happiness and joy are also vital parts of a well-lived life, even if nothing is actually achieved from those activities of joy. I never achieved much in track, my times stayed consistent, and I never got a different colored ribbon or award. But I enjoyed the experience all the same. Just as life is about the journey, life is also about the twists and turns, the pit stops, the U-turns, the layovers, the delays, and all the “wasted” time. As Bertrand Russell once said, “The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time,” –and the time enjoyed running track is time spent feeling

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