Student’s Epic Speech to Freshmen Gets Us Excited About the New School Year (VIDEO)

donderdag 22 augustus 2013

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by Adriana Velez 1 hour ago

How excited are most teens about starting their freshman year at college? I said: HOW EXCITED ARE MOST TEENS ABOUT THEIR FRESHMAN YEAR??? I think most of them are totes stoked over their newfound freedom and independence. Maybe the most outgoing teens are giddy over their impending social adventures. But excited about, you know, the learning and stuff? I don't know. Too bad every incoming freshman doesn't get to hear a speech like the epic speech this Georgia Tech engineering sophomore Nicholas Selby gave entering freshmen this year. Cue 2001: A Space Odyssey theme song.

Yes, Selby did that. He played the theme song to 2001 through his speech. But more importantly, he got a crowd of freshmen hyped up about doing the impossible. Sure, these kids are all geniuses at Georgia Tech, a well-funded university with high expectations for its students. And this is a self-selected group of ... well ... nerds. I say that with a great deal of affection. (And yeah, that's some wan-looking clapping from the audience, but I think they're more into it than they look.) Here's the climax of Selby's speech.

Our mission as students is not to follow in the footsteps of the astronauts, Nobel Prize laureates or the presidents that graduated before us but to exceed their footsteps, crush the shoulders of the giants upon whom we stand! If you want to change the world, you're at Georgia Tech, you can do that! If you want to build the 'Iron Man' suit, you're at Georgia Tech, you can do that! If you want to play theme music during your convocation speech like a badass, we're at Georgia Tech, we can do that! I am doing that!

Don't you wish every freshman got a speech like this one? Maybe they're not all at the kind of school where you can build an Iron Man suit. And they're definitely not all going into engineering. (If you want to be the best accounts payable specialist in Oklahoma City, you're at Oklahoma City Community College, you can do that! Woooh.) But I can relate a little to Selby's speech -- because I was a nerd, too. (Still am.) And I remember that tingle of excitement at the beginning of the school year. I was about to broaden my horizons. I was about to push my brain harder than it had been pushed ever before.

For that matter, wouldn't it be amazing if we could start the school year for kids of all ages with this kind of pep talk? It's not going to sound as convincing from a kid's parents, obviously. But maybe I'll make my son watch this video, at least. YOU COULD GROW UP TO BE A VIDEO GAME DESIGNER, YEAHHH! STUDY HARD IN MATH CLASS, SON.

Do you wish someone could give your kids a speech like this every school year?

Image via Andy Blanton/YouTube

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Adriana Velez

is a staff writer who dabbles in food, parenting, news, entertainment, molecular biology, and anything else that that pops into her head. She lives with her elementary school-aged son in Brooklyn, land of urban farms and artisan everything.  

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Sexy See-Through Shower Gets Peeping Tom Neighbors Excited

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by Kiri Blakeley 3 hours ago

So imagine your neighbor builds an addition to their home. It juts out into the backyard, it's made of clear glass, and you can't help but notice it. Is it a porch? A balcony? A viewing room? Why, no, there's a shower head there and it's ... well ... an outdoor shower! When one couple decided to build a completely see-through glass shower overlooking their Brooklyn neighborhood, more drama than an episode of Real Housewives ensued. A nosy neighbor (New Yorkers don't speak to each other but we spy like crazy) took a photo and sent it to city blog Gothamist, which posted the photo and explained how neighbors imagined the couple moving into the townhouse would be hosting "orgies" and wished that they were "better looking" and "more famous." There goes the neighborhood ...

It all started when two lawyers, who were renovating the brownstone to move into with their three kids, decided to build the outdoor shower off the second story over their backyard. Since this is Brooklyn, backyards are small, and neighbors are staring directly into your backyard -- or your shower, as the case may be.

It didn't take long before more than one neighbor snapped a photo, even figured out who the new owners were, and sent it to a website. One neighbor wrote:

It looks pretty nice, and I think it can fit a party of eight at least.

And about the couple, the tipster wrote:

[They are] not unattractive; I wish they were hotter and famous.

She also added:

The other neighbors are all talking about it. You can't miss it. I think we all thought it was a joke or that there would be curtains, or that it wasn't really a shower. But it is. And there's another shower in the window directly above it.

The lawyer couple, who were horrified to find themselves the subject of so much titillating gossip, then taped a letter to their shower that read:

Dear Neighbors, We are still under construction and we regret that our design, which was approved by the Landmarks and the city, has alarmed you. It has always been our plan to put up privacy coverings on our shower, which we anticipate will be installed in the coming weeks. Of course, the shower cannot be used until then. We are dismayed and a bit heart sick at the attention our half-finished house has created ... We look forward to a day when we know our neighbors well enough to discuss any concerns over coffee, and not in newspapers and on gossip sites on the Internet.

Dude, you live in Brooklyn. All your neighbors are bloggers! What exactly did you expect?! You didn't build an outdoor shower in the Mojave Desert.

Still, these neighbors were pretty nosy and gossipy. Perhaps they could have just waited to see what happened before they assumed the neighbors would be having full-frontal viewing parties in their see-through shower.

Anyway, looks like the Peeping Tom neighbors won't get their jollies after all. Move along, folks, nothing to see here! (Dang it.)

Have you ever had your neighbors gossip about you? Would you ever have an outdoor shower?

Image via Jurvetson/Flickr

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