“You Are Not Special” Message To High School Graduates [VIDEO]

With high school graduations taking place across the country, I thought it would be fitting to share this video from a commencement speech last year.  The speaker, David Muccullough, Jr had a shocking message for the graduates:  "You Are Not Special."

His speech struck a chord with many people, because of it's realistic message.  It's not meant to hurt the graduates feelings, but prepare them for a life that they have no idea about.   From the time they were in preschool, every kid has been told they were special, that they were winners, and that mediocrity has turned into achievements.

The real world is a slap in the face.  I was a high school student that was "special."  I had great grades that honestly I didn't work that hard for.  I was a talented musician, had a lot of friends, did well at my high school job, and got a nice full ride scholarship to go to college.

Sometime around college graduation is when it hit me.  I'm not going to make millions of dollars.   The scholarship was nice, but it payed for school, now I got to start making money.

I remember one day in 2004 when I was sitting in a real dump of an apartment that I could barely afford, working my first job in radio thinking, "I was supposed to do better than this!"  "I've got good grades, things come easily to me, what the heck happened?"  I had to start working for what I wanted.  I always had a good work ethic, but up until that point I thought that if I worked hard, I would automatically be rewarded.  It was a tough reality when that happened.

The world doesn't care about your good grades.  The world doesn't care if you're a nice person, or a bad person.   The world isn't unfair or fair.  I learned this in my first year after college, and unfortunately some of my peers haven't.  I grew up.  I took responsibility for my own life and I've been able to reach my goals.   But that's nothing special, it's what we have to do.

So congratulations on your graduation.  I honestly mean that.  But now is when your life begins and you better get to it.