TU Tuesday - Commencement Speech

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/06/text-of-j-k-rowling-speech/
 2nd speech: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/23/nelsonmandela

It is very special when you can connect with something, especially something a famous person has said. In this case I made a connection with a speech by J.K. Rowling. In 2008 Rowling made the commencement speech at Harvard and during her speech she said: "Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it." I could not agree with this quote more. Today there is so much pressure on kids to succeed. As a kid I experience this myself, not from my parents but from many other sources. Today it is a common belief that if you fail at something you are screwing up your life and that you won't amount to something. But as Rowling says: "Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me." This helps to prove that failing is an important part of maturing. In a way everyone should fail at something just so they understand how terrible it is and gain more determination to not fail. Rowling goes on to say: "Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged." This speaks so much to me. To me it shows that it is OK to fail, that an extremely successful author failed and she is still what she is today. It helps to show that failing is OK and that is a normal part of life. A quote from Rowling speech that really puts this into perspective for me is; "You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default." I feel that this is the most moving quote and really brings the whole meaning to life.

Another speech that helps to show the power of failing is Nelson Mandela's speech in 1964. "I came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable; it would be unrealistic to continue preaching peace and non-violence. This conclusion was not easily arrived at. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle. I can only say that I felt morally obliged to do what I did." Though this quote is talking about the use of violence it still is very powerful. It shows that Mandela failed many times and even though he failed he still kept fighting. Many people would have just backed down but with Mandela it made his drive even stronger. This helps to show the power of failing. It can ignite a determination in you that you never though was possible.

In this blog I am not saying that I think kids should go to school and just fail classes and receive no repercussions for it. What I am saying in this blog is that I feel that there shouldn't be so much pressure on kids to succeed all the time. Kids shouldn't have to live under the shadow of failing all the time and when they do fail; they can use it as a motivational tool to succeed even better than before.