Andrew+N’s+Final+AmEx+2015+Speech

I was originally going to speak about how people get offended too easily. But then I realized that people might get offended. So I chose a different topic.

Once, I was sitting in a shopping cart. Last week, no, 14 years ago. Specifically, a large Costco shopping cart. In Costco. As my parents began the checkout process, my 3-year-old mind thought that perhaps it might be a good idea to extend myself over the edge of the shopping cart. Moments later, I learned an important lesson about gravity and, in the process, landed directly on my head -- which may explain a few things. I also learned what the inside of an ambulance looks like.

Before we left, my dad was told by Costco’s management to return later in the day and file a claim. He did not. Why? Well, he probably had other things to do. But also, he did not return because he knew that it was his son’s fault for jumping out of a shopping cart, and his own fault for not realizing that his son had no knowledge of proper shopping cart safety procedure -- Costco had nothing to do with it. Instead of pursuing monetary gain from a company that was only loosely associated with his son’s injury, he took the burden. Instead of blaming an external source, he took matters into his own hands.

Other people, society or the universe often places us in circumstances that are unpleasant or undesirable. Too often, when faced with an obstacle or situation, people will look for a source to place the entirety of the blame on. People blame the government for taking their money. People blame the government for not giving them enough money. People who have a difficult time later in life often blame the difficult circumstances surrounding their childhood, or the environment they were born into. People blame compulsory or societally imposed institutions or courses of action, such as school or work, for inhibiting their progress. These complaints, and many others, are often valid. People are often the target of injustice, or on the receiving end of unfortunate circumstances. Such stress-causing entities never go away, and the ones that do may take exceeding amounts of time to do so. But in the meantime, what do you do? The fact that you are acted on or influenced by external factors which you have no direct or immediate control over, does not mean that those factors have control over you. You cannot control the situation you are born into. You cannot control what natural abilities you do and do not possess. You cannot control what calamities other people, other entities, or the universe may throw your way. But you can control yourself, and your reaction to these outside forces.

This is eloquently put by the following quote, “you can't control the wind, but you can adjust your sails.” Unfortunately, people often complain about the wind, but do nothing in regards to sail adjustment.

In other words, people assert that the undesirable circumstances that are brought upon them prevent them from taking any action on their own against them. They may jump to the false conclusion that difficulty equates to impossibility. And this is often the path of least resistance -- to rest comfortably and guilt-free in self pity, rather than to take the risky, difficult, but rewarding pathway of self initiative. Surely it is easier, to sit back, assume infeasibility, and do nothing, rather than take responsibility for your potential.

This mindset -- where difficulty and impossibility are treated as one, where large obstacles are perceived as insurmountable -- is detrimental and hides available opportunities. To illustrate, I will apply this mindset to something acting on us right now. Its influence is everywhere, and few humans can ever escape it. I mentioned it in my opening story. This is ... gravity. It surrounds us. It weighs us down. It makes it difficult to dunk a basketball, to climb up hills, or to fly. Trust me, I’ve tried. As gravity is a constant obstacle acting on us against our will and we cannot control it, it may be tempting to give up on fighting it, say that there is no point, and conclude that mankind is destined to forever remain on the ground and have their offspring fall out of shopping carts. But this attitude did not prevail. Because of this, we can dunk basketballs (in my case, attempt to dunk basketballs), we can climb mountains, we even made it to the moon. Thus, even a force as prevalent as gravity could not keep mankind within the confines of its own planet. What was deemed inherently unconquerable is now easily overcome.

Difficulty, then, not only implies, but necessitates possibility. We can do and we can be so much more if we acknowledge this in daily life. Just because the government’s taxation or welfare system is imperfect and may never improve, does not mean that financial success is impossible. Just because someone was raised in less-than-ideal circumstances, does not mean they cannot make something meaningful out of their own lives. Just because a class is required and not interesting to you, does not mean you have to waste your time in it. You have to take it -- you may as well pay attention and get something out of your time. Try staying awake in class for once. As most of you know, this is still one that I am working on. And just because you have school and other obligations does not mean that you do not have time to pursue your passions. Assuming 8 hours of sleep, there are 16 useable hours in a day. For most of us, a good chunk of those are free. Go do something with them.

In the America I want to grow old in, well I don’t want to grow old, but when I do, the America that I reside in when that event occurs will hopefully be one of responsibility. Of initiative and action. Where problems are not complained about, but solutions are pursued. Where we step up and realize that we have little control over the universe, but immense control over ourselves. Take initiative. Don’t hope -- plan. And if you have children (hopefully, not anytime soon), do not allow them to dive headfirst out of shopping carts. Just look at how they might turn out.