Graduation Speaker Tells Students They're Not Special

Last weekend, David McCullogh, the son of the author and an English teacher at Wellesley High School, turned his commencement address into a bit of a commentary on the YouTube generation’s heightened sense of self-importance. He told graduates they were not special or extraordinary but instead one of billions of people on this planet. He chastised those who mistake accolades for achievement and those who climb mountains to plant flags rather than enjoy the views.

In the days since, his commentary has raced around the Internet. An overwhelming majority have praised its content and passed it on to friends. Some have seen his words as only condemnation, but the speech is really more of a warning against the pratfalls and shortcomings this generation seems poised to potentially fall into. Take a look at his address below…

The truth is there has never been one perfect generation. Every single one that's come before and every one still to come in the future is or will be fraught with collective problems. Whether they be asking for change without offering solutions or working eighty hours a week and doing coke lines off sinks at discos to cope, there is no faultless era, but that’s still not an excuse not to strive for something more.

Life is about enjoyment, but peaceful enjoyment doesn’t come without hard work and accomplishment. The YouTube Generation needed to hear that, and the rest of us should take those words to heart too.