Academic Decathlon Speech

When I took the class I wanted to find a topic that was important. (Even though any lame topic would have gotten a low score instantly.) So, I went with what was deemed important by myself: Learning and knowledge.       Unfortunately....When I had to say it to the judges, I panicked and forgot most of it. Hopefully ,Some of you will read it and understand what it means to me, or won't like it. Either way, I would REALLY appreciate if you gave your honest opinion.

Please do not steal or copy my work.

                 I want multiple relationships, alcohol, adrenaline, drugs. I don’t want to feel so empty and alone inside of my limited mind. I need fulfillment and that rush that comes with discovery. I don’t necessarily want open heart surgery-….no…I know I feel.- I need to bash my skull with the sharp rocks of wit, so I can know that my mind is still turning and whirling- in the raw process of understanding. I am very certain that I am not the only one on this path of righteous destruction. I am not the only one in this vast world who needs something… which begs the question: why do we need anything? Why can’t we be happy with just ourselves- because we seek out gifts only the world can give, instead of knowledge that only a god-like mind can provide.

                It’s easier said than done to make yourself happy. You knit-pick all your flaws, highlight what you Need to change in neon colors and put pretty pink tabs there to remind yourself to fix them in the near future. You second guess what you say, what you think is right. But, the funny thing is, no one explicitly told you what to think. No one told you to hate yourself because you didn’t do this or that. Because you don’t believe in this religion or the one over there. Because you don’t like him or her. Everything we believe is practically assumed. We hear hints being dropped like lead pipes; we hear orders falling like rusty tanks on the sandpaper of good intentions. And in this horrid disorder we find that we are lost.

                There was a man who was skilled at untangling the lost souls. The thirty, lost, souls. His name was Socrates. On 399 BCE, in Athens he committed forced suicide. His life was taken because he was tainting the poor minds of the Athenian youth. He was telling them that they should think for themselves and not to place one’s precious thoughts carelessly. Thoughts are priceless. In a retold story by Eric Saperston, Socrates was asked by a young man how to gain the mastery of wisdom and insight. The sage took the intrigued youth to the beach. There he proceeded to drown the boy, almost taking his life. But at the last possible moment he let the young man up. After the young man caught his breath, Socrates proceeded to ask him: “Boy, when you were underneath the water, not sure if you would live to see another day, what did you want more than anything in the world?” The soft reply was “I just wanted to breathe.” This simple, honest, answer delighted Socrates. And he said “When you want wisdom and insight as badly as you wanted to breathe, it is then you shall have it.”

                 We can’t look at sources outside of ourselves to find answers. We can be given some good directions, but ultimately, it all comes down to how we view intelligence. If we don’t value knowledge that enlightens our drowning minds how can any of us be happy?

                One of the best directions you could ever follow would be the movie Dead Poets Society. In an all boys boarding school, a new teacher, language teacher, works on helping the boys find their voice, helps them unlock every aspect of their closed mind. All the boys were smart, but none of them truly thought for themselves. During one of his unique lessons, Mr. Keating boldly says: “Boys, you must strive to find your own voice, because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said ’most men lead lives of quiet desperation’, don’t be resigned to that. Break out.”