Andrew+H’s+Final+AmEx+2013+Speech

=Title of Speech= Correcting "Political Incorrectness"

=Text of Speech= As I look around in this room of high achieving students, I sense how you all have been shaped by society to be high-strung and extremely sensitive to a fault. You all are programmed to do well in school or else face the impending doom of going to UCVC and working in McDonalds. It doesn’t just work in school, but also in the way you guys act in order to fit in. You all will say what is “politically correct” and hope that what you say won’t be misconstrued as something that can be scrutinized by people as offensive. People are afraid to be judged on not only their words but also their actions, so they box themselves into a mold. Screw the system. Relax. Say what’s on your mind. Go outside the box.  During a press conference after an NBA game, a player was fined 75,000 dollars for using a “gay slur” and a curse word. The words? “No homo” and motherfucker (mofo). However, the media pounced on this “gay slur,” which I couldn’t find a reason how it could be used to be offensive to the gay community. He got fined because he didn’t want to hold back and actually decided to express his mind on certain issues and those words happened to be used to express his views. Were they ill advised? Certainly, but we all have the right to freedom of speech, so even society frowned down upon those words, he still has a right to express himself. I respect men such as Bill O’Reilly and Charles Barkley because they don’t give a damn what other’s think. They are fully utilizing their 1st amendment right to say whatever they want, whether it is to explosively suggesting doing things live or talk about something being harder than a black man in the 60’s, they have a loose trigger on what they say. When a German is conversing about poisonous mushrooms, I highly doubt that most people will think he is talking about venomous fungal growth, but because of previous experiences, he will be judged about what he says. In the America I grow old in, I want to be able to say, “Paul, that’s just not kosher,” and not be castigated for said statement. Being politically correct is limiting our freedom to express what we believe, and not be afraid of facing a verbal lashing from people around them.  I may have been blind to it previously, but I have heard my fair share of students complaining on how they would fail at life because this year has sucked their life away. In fact, just listening to some of the speeches now, there are plenty of my classmates who bemoan their situation. I have experienced a much less stressful year on one condition; I haven’t put that much stress on myself. I am not saying I am slacking off; I just refuse to let my school life ruin my other aspects of life. I have underperformed on a Geib test before, but instead of moping around, I know that what is done is gone, and to move on the next one. In the same way I don’t feel too low, I don’t allow myself to get too high. I stay happy but not satisfied.  We shouldn't let society and outside influences dictate how we live our lives, and in the end the only opinion that matters to us is our own. In the America I want to grow old in, I wish to see more people stepping outside of the boundaries, speaking their mind with respect to other races or people but also expressing what they wish and grow independent from societal pressure. We all face pressure whether it is from parents, teachers, and ourselves. It is how we deal with it that makes the path for us. Speak your mind, trust yourself, and disregard your perceptions of yourself. Thank you fellow Amexers, thank you Mr. Geib, and thank you Based God.

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