Triopia Speech Class
May, 2008
Starting a speech…Bummy
Bob.. (end: threw cross at me… “You S.O.B.” )
Taught here for 37 years… made me really smart as to what kids have and don't have… what they know and what they need. When Eric asked me to speak here and I thought…I want to more than give you a sample entertaining speech.. I want to really give you something. I’ll tell you the rest of Bob’s story later.
---Let me tell you about the artist of Arenzville…Gretchen…junk… She had a passion.
---Erich Nobis… Side Door… the elevator..his passion.. Went to J’ville library and found a book on the architecture of J’ville.. That doesn’t make sense. Passions often don't.
---My friend Fidel. Lives in Detroit. 82 years old. Can’t read or write. Last year, his net worth…over $200 million. As a young man, he had a passion for building skyscrapers.
A passion… I’ve been teaching a first hour class of seniors for two years… smart, very talented..what do most of them lack? Two years ago we were given a gift..her name was Hope Kerouac..from A/C Central..she got the dream of her life…doing theatre at Triopia. Completely changed the class… she brought a passion and she started infecting everyone.
Mr. Anderson’s class. ..remember as a sophomore? How he’d come into class excited about something and you’d sit there thinking, “What’s with this guy?” But he stayed in your face. You learned from Mr. Anderson. Mr. Anderson has a passion.
Ever been in Mr. West’s class when somebody says, “Hey Mr. West, play the guitar for us.” You see how he changes when he grabs his guitar? He’s got a passion.
Why have a passion…? ---Without it, you’d might as well be dead…nothing meaningful to live for ---You are worthless to the world without it. A passion gets your mind off you. JHS girl.. CFS. Becky…funeral… You wanna be miserable? Think about yourself. You wanna be happy today? Get involved in somebody’s else life.. be concerned about them..get to know them.
Aristotle.. A young person spends his/her life putting on one mask after another trying to find one that will fit. The happy ones learn how to drop their mask.
Albert Sweitzer..the only ones among you who are going to be happy in life are those who have sought and found out how to serve others.
Be Yourself … Quest...Inner-Outer Self
architect Johnstone: (Charlie Rose show) 90 years old. Hottest place in hell for whiners and complainers ..... “If life were 100 times longer, there would still excuse for every getting bored by it.”
It’s impossible to be self-centered if you have a passion.
Sometimes we can’t have a passion because we’re so busy trying to please everyone. The invisible “they” inside our head.
HINEY THE MULE
Stop being so stinking normal! Have a passion for life!.. Your idea of cool means “dull” Who are you, _________? You’re who the most important people in your life think you are. Wrong! Stupid, stupid answer because it’s a lie! That’s not who you are!
Matt…baritone
LIGHTEN UP.... ....go barefoot more often ....Invite some friends over who you usually don’t hang around and bring your elementary school pictures..then laugh your butts off. ...eat nothing but ice cream for a whole day. ...wear underwear backwards...will break into uncontrollable giggles for no reason every time you think about it. ....walk up to biggest grouch you know and say “I just want you to know that I feel great!” It’ll throw them off all day. ...do some serious coloring ...plan a float trip down Indian Creek … Meet at Chapin park and play every dumb game you ever played when you were a kid. …Concord has brand-new playground equipment and the only people who use it are little kids. Take if over some night! Be really, really childish! Bring popsicles and chocolate chip cookies, and Kool-Aid. ...break the dress code occasionally. Your own, not the schools. …make yourself a deal…one classmate.. “You’re in my class. Who in the heck are you?” .....McDonnald’s “Have a nice Day” Why? A passion for life: Jeff W...Senior pictures… announcements… Free Spirit..Robbed and tied.
Difference between having a passion and being parent-pushed..
---What does it mean to have a passion? It means to care about something more than your own selfish interests. ---I see it in Brennan Vahle.. loves to perform…. ---Cody Nordsiek..horses ---I see it in Phil McGinnis who doesn’t really care if he’s laughed at for dressing like Roy Rogers every day. ---I see it in the face of Brittany DeOrnellas when she takes the stage to dance… ---A Triopia senior who told me he wanted to major in literature… Why? Your teacher. ---An ex-football coach who knew Mrs. Hayes was having a bad day. Came to her door: “Hey Mrs. Hayes! Wanna get lucky?” --- Two high school boys and one girl about six years ago who made a promise to themselves.. no Triopia student will ever eat lunch alone during their lunch hour. ---A lady named Adelle who’s going to give away 20, 1-thousand-dollar checks tomorrow night because she believes so strongly in the kids at Triopia. ---A little boy in our grade school…clowning at a camp for mentally challenged kids near Quincy…
People with a passion…a reason for living other than just getting by.
Senator Obama..no matter what party you belong to.. The Audacity of Hope… “Audacity?”… it makes no sense. You’ll be laughed at. You’ll be out there by yourself… You’ll have a passion.
The rest of Bob’s story… Bob didn’t go through drug re-hab. He didn’t go through counseling in prison. He found a passion. I hope you get a diploma. That should get you a job. But I hope you get a passion..that’ll get you a life.
PAGE * MERGEFORMAT 3