Speech to Campbell High Year 10 Graduation...

I've re-written this speech 100 times this week... I struggled with what to tell you, what to impart... let's start with what I won't tell you.

I won’t tell you what to do with your life.  While the specifics are always interesting, there is never just one right path or option.

I won’t tell you what your profession should be.  What you choose to do in life is never a matter for anyone else to judge or dictate.

I won’t tell you what your opinions should be.  Where you end up philosophically is a matter for you and no one else. 

I won’t tell you what you should do, what you should think, what you should feel, how you should speak.

I won’t tell you to have the next few years of your life figured out.  I certainly didn’t at your age.

I won’t tell you to go to university or not, to become a doctor or a mechanic, a teacher or a musician.  I won’t tell you to travel the world or never leave this town.

I won’t talk to you about obstacles in life, because you’ve seen nike and adidas ads far more emotionally eloquent than I can be.  

I won’t talk to you about dealing with issues such as conflict and drugs and alcohol and depression, since you’re bombarded with images and messages every day, at school, on tv, in magazines, on the internet.

I won’t talk to you about the importance of good grades or making it through university, because the truth is that for so many people, they’re simply not the most important things.

This is the part of the speech where teachers sometimes throw me out… no?  ok great…

I can’t talk to you about any of these things, because you’re no longer kids.

You’re no longer easy to mold, easy to convince.  You have your own ideas and your own opinions and your own priorities and frankly your own species at times; your generation is so far removed from when even I was in year 10.  You’re the facebook, ipod, ipad, 3d tv generation.  You know more and have experienced more and learnt and forgotten and relearned so much more than I ever did at your age.

Ok if I start talking about the price of bread when I was a kid you officially have my permission to throw me out.

You’re not kids anymore, and unfortunately for those of us working in the “kid” industry, you’re growing out of being a kid earlier and earlier and earlier…

It used to be so easy to inspire you, motivate you, encourage you.  We pretty much just had to pop in a Disney movie and that would be the end of it.

But you’re all so grown now.  So in touch, so beyond the simple ways we used to learn. 

So I won’t tell you about the things you already know, you already hear, you already feel. 

I won’t tell you of the incredible power your generation has; you already know it.  You’re the generation who are taking over the world; young men and women your age are right now in countries like Iran, using the internet to fight for social change.  In Bangladesh, uniting across vast cities to make a positive change in the slums of every suburb.  In Tanzania, taking collections of food and clothing and medical supplies to schools in some of the most remote villages on the planet.  Here in Canberra, marching on Parliament House, demanding our politicians consider not just the voters of today, but those of tomorrow, to deliver cleaner air, freer media, safer streets.

You see we talk to you about your potential and your opportunities.  Maybe we’ve reached the stage where you’re so difficult to reach that we just bombard you with as much as we can in the hopes that something slips through.  Maybe if you receive enough feedback about your limitless potential, you’ll get the drift and succeed somehow.

But what about responsibility?

As a society we debate and discuss, and often argue, the role of parents’ responsibility towards their children, whether through encouraging exploration of topics and ideas, or simply turning the TV off, confiscating the xbox and making sure you do your homework.

We even debate our government and education departments’ responsibilities to ensure certain curriculum are met, to better allow the mental growth of our students, whether through introducing new programs and incentives, extending or limiting school hours and days, even whether schools should have uniforms, all to satisfy a responsibility to ensure all students are afforded a certain level of education upon which they can build their own destinies.

But you’re not kids anymore.

You haven’t been for a while now.

So for all of your social advances, your growing up, here’s what I will tell you, what I do care about, what I desperately need you to understand:

Not a single person on this planet has more of a responsibility for your success than you.

You have an undisputed duty to yourself, to be who you want to be, to go after your dreams and goals and conquer all obstacles in your way.

Your responsibility is not just to dream, but to chase your dreams.

You have the responsibility, the unequivocal purpose to be great.

The most heart wrenching tragedy I have ever faced in my life is meeting kid after kid, from Bangladesh to Afghanistan to Sudan, who has not once dared to dream of greater things. Not once imagined being able to change the course of their destiny.

Can you understand what that must be like? To never hear someone say that you can be whatever you want to be? To never know how to, let alone dare, to dream of a different future, a better future?

We need you to be dreamers. As a country, as a society, as a city, as a community, we need you to dream about what you want to be, whether a doctor, a lawyer, a carpenter, a plumber, a mechanic, a business-owner, even a professional athlete or artist. Waiting just on the horizon is the next Mozart, the next Picasso, the next Gilchrist, the next Churchill. Let me put it another way; the success of one person inspires and encourages the success of others. Whether you’re Tony Hawk, Gerry Norman or the next Prime Minister, right through to the local basketball coach, the teacher in your social studies class who encouraged you to read everything in sight, or the guys that run a small business who give you and your friends your first sponsorship deal so you can put on that show, or enter that competition, or set up your own event.

You have the opportunity to be any of those people, and thousands of thousands more, if you fulfill your responsibility to yourself.

So I won’t tell you what to do with your life.  Just be great at whatever you choose.

I won’t tell you what your profession should be.  Just be great at whatever makes you happy, whetever satisfies you.

I won’t tell you what your opinions should be.  Just make sure they’re your own, and demonstrate your greatness.

I won’t tell you what you should do, what you should think, what you should feel, how you should speak.  So long as you do so greatly, with thought and presence and care and honesty.

I won’t tell you to have the next few years of your life figured out.  I couldn’t even if I wanted to.

So long as you know that you’re responsible for you.  For being a great you.  For being the best you.

Be great, year 10. 

We need you to be.