School Speeches/Papers

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Carcrazy
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School Speeches/Papers

Post by Carcrazy »

I had to write this for public speaking, and since a few people have been posting some of their writings, I figure'd I'd copy and paste it here for you. It's not a story, like I said, It's a speech... I actually have to give this infront of both the middle and the high school. Anyway, cheers.

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How many people here have ever been told “you can’t do it”? You don’t have to raise your hands, because I already know… there isn’t a single person that hasn’t heard these words before, at some point in their life.

If you actually haven’t, then I guarantee you that you eventually will. So, “how do you deal with it?” you might ask, and I have an answer. There are actually many ways you could take this. First, you could cave-in and listen to the people, be hey, start doing this and eventually you’ll let anybody say anything they want to you, and all you’ll do will be listen, and actually think it’s true. Instead of thinking for yourself, you’ve let other people tell you what you not only can and can’t do, but to an extent, who and what you are. By listening to people like this, you could pretty much lose yourself.

So, what should you do? Different people will have different answers for this, it may be anything from “just ignore them and walk away,” to “prove ‘em wrong,” and even to “kick their tails from here to china.” Yeah, I probably wouldn’t throw that last one out there, that’s probably one of the last things you want to do. Personally, I’d say just to ignore them… I mean, what better to do?

If you yourself don’t think you can do it, then you’ve lost it from the start… that’s almost, if not just as bad as listening to them. I remember back in the 6th grade, back when I decided to sign up for football. Why did I join? Well, I’ll be honest, probably just because the rest of my friends were. (And yeah, that probably wasn’t the best thing to admit with some of my coaches in the room…) But, I can’t remember a single person saying something positive, just “dude, you’re going to freaking DIE!”

Were they right? Well, I defiantly wasn’t what you’d consider a star player, or even a skilled player. But they all expected me to quit before conditioning even finished. Shoot, even Coach Pate didn’t have much faith in me.
Why didn’t I quit? It’s really simple… I was sick of being the puny little kid who couldn’t do anything. I told myself, after everything people said , that I wasn’t gonna’ quit. I was going to prove them wrong. I mean, I couldn’t get any worse; it just doesn’t work that way… nowhere to go but up, right?

By the end of the year, I still wasn’t what you’d consider a ‘great player,’ or anywhere near for that fact; but I had shown everybody that I wasn’t going to give up, and that I really did end up putting my heart into it. It may not have shown much, but the effort was there… still is. I’m always trying to get better. My max may not be as high as some other peoples, but that doesn’t mean that I should just sit on the side during weightlifting… I may not be the fastest person on the team, but that doesn’t mean I should just sit at home during the off season instead of going out running and say “Oh well, it’s not like I could really be able to catch them anyway.” I still don’t have a pair of hands, but… actually, you know what… I think I just need a miracle for that. (Although I am working on it…)

It’s just like people saying that I’m never going to get into Chapel Hill. (FYI EDIT: It's one of the major NC colleges, BTW) I’ve had so many people, that will look me straight in the eye and say “it’s not going to happen.” Are they right? Maybe, but I don’t know until I try. I think a good place to start would probably be to stop falling asleep in class, but other than that it’s just giving it my best.

I know that right now, someone out there is thinking “Wasn’t he supposed to be giving an inspirational speech?” Well, I am… only instead of just coming up here and telling some story of a time passed, I figured that that I’d leave giving a message… A message saying that you can do anything, if you’ll only try. My playing football is only one example; I mean, even I’d have to admit that my first year, I was pathetic. Even part of my second year I was pretty bad, but despite people saying that I “could never do it,” I’ve been going three years and still getting better.

So the next time you hear “you can’t do it, don’t even try man,” just don’t listen… and go prove them wrong.
Last edited by Carcrazy on 04 Dec 2008, 09:21, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Inspirational Speech

Post by korge »

A speech good enough for Barack Hussein Obama.

I just dont like the ending, with the slang term "man" but overall its good. Makes me believe and hope.

I believe in Harvey Dent. :D
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Re: Inspirational Speech

Post by RedCarDriver »

Well, for one, it's "definitely", not "defiantly" - I can't tell you how many times I see that, where you type a misspelling into a draft and Word's spell check gives you a totally different word (I assume that's what happened; at least it's nowhere near as bad as other mistakes I see often). Heck, I'm not saying I'm perfect though, someone had to catch a mistake on the first part of the short story here and I fixed it... yeah that's a tangent, sorry.

Other than that, it's pretty good. Seems like something a lot of people I know need sometimes. lol
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Re: Inspirational Speech

Post by Carcrazy »

Yeah, that seems to happen alot; and since I tend to misspell the same words over and over without realizing it (like i used to spell 'tomorrow' 'tomarrow,' so forth and so forth.

--EDIT--
See, look above. I type 'a lot' like 'alot,' lol...
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You'll also realize there's an excessive use of commas and other punctuation (more so than normally with me, since I seem to love coma's and "..."s, lol; but it's only so that when I read it, I'll emphasize what I meant to when I wrote it, not because I have poor grammar skills. :lol:
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Re: School Speeches/Papers

Post by Carcrazy »

I edited the first post instead of making another topic. I have to turn the paper in tomorrow so there's no possiblity of revisions, but any criticism is welcome in aiding my skills of getting better... Anyway:

TRUE FACE OF A HERO
(Definition Report of The Odyssey)
[MLA Format]

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So, what really makes a hero? Is it super powers? Maybe it’s something like super-human strength. Or could it be that it’s anyone, rather, everyone? If so, then what really makes us heroes? Is it having good grades in school? Is it being brave and going against your fears… or maybe it’s simply never giving up? Truthfully, it’s all of these. Having good grades doesn’t necessarily make you a hero, but it does show that you have persistence. Being brave doesn’t always make you a hero, but it does mean you’re willing to stand up against that which stands in your way; and yes, never giving up won’t always make you a hero either, but have you ever heard of a hero giving up? I think not.

If all this is true, then how could you describe a hero? A champion – meaning “a warrior or a fighter; one that does battle for another’s rights or honors” (merriam-webster.com). Possibly as a conqueror - “one who gain’s mastery over or win by overcoming obstacles or opposition” (merriam-webster.com) , meaning someone who can overcome the troubles set before them. Lastly, I would consider them a guardian – “one who has the care of the person or property of another” (merriam-webster.com). Why these? Simple, a champion has overcome, a conqueror will overcome, and a being guardian shows integrity, and proves that you stand for something other than just your own interests. Put these together, and I’d consider that person a pretty big hero. To quote a song from one of my favorite artists: Rise Against, “Our shoulders bear an awful weight - But still we trudge on just the same…” (http://www.plyrics.com). I can only imagine the weights Odysseus would have held on his shoulders, and he trudged back towards his home, but yet he never gave up.

A champion… what truly makes a champion great? Easy, just as I said before, a champion has almost, if not always overcome what has been set before them. Odysseus shows this at many points: firstly, from the beginning we know he was a great fighter… not only that, but we also see that no-matter what the gods set before him, he kept his cool and overcame. This shows not only experience, but also persistence.

With that, we come to the next word: conqueror. Why would a conqueror be considered a hero? Again, simple. A conqueror has persistence, and never quits when times seem tough. Instead of giving up, they try the very hardest to overcome their obstacles. This is another trait shown vividly throughout the epic poem, The Odyssey. Odysseus never gives up, not only because of his quest to see not only his home, but also his wife again, but also because he knows how negatively it will affect his men. A Conqueror will never show a weakness, at least not without overcoming it for all to see.

Now, onto a guardian... This is obvious, in my opinion. A guardian normally holds great honor, not because of something such as being a war hero, or any of that such, like can come with the above; but instead because this shows they’ll stand for the rights, safety, and overall well-being of those around them. Instead of acting for their own best interest, they’ll put others before them, and watch over them. Odysseus has to show this throughout the entire story, for the safety of his men. The entire time, he has to watch over them, and try to protect them. A perfect example of this is when he tells them NOT to eat Helios cattle, but yet they disobey. This caused them all to die, but not because of fault on Odysseus’s part. He gave them fair warning, in which they did not heed; so they suffered the consequences.

Killing a bunch of people during a battle will not make you a hero, and if it does, I’d hate to see the people to whom you actually were a hero. I believe the quote “True heroism is remarkably sober, very un-dramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost” (thinkexist.com) goes quite nicely with proving my point. While it will be necessary for a hero of this type to use violence, that’s not what makes them a hero… no, it takes much more than that to achieve greatness.

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The above has been edited slightly for internet publication; Article (c) Christian Peterson, 2008... etc, etc. :wink:
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