<p>Right now, the commencement address at this year’s Wellesley High School is making a buzz (thanks to a fellow CC parent for including link in his/her FB feed!), mostly because the speaker (an English teacher at the school) included the phrase “You are not special. You are not exceptional.” in it.</p>
<p>This, of course, was taken any number of different ways by his audience and ever expanding circles of online readers. But the overall message of his speech is, IMO, exceptional. Here’s a link to the transcript if you haven’t read it yet:</p>
<p>[Wellesley</a> High grads told: Youre not special | The Swellesley Report](<a href=“http://www.theswellesleyreport.com/2012/06/wellesley-high-grads-told-youre-not-special/]Wellesley”>Wellesley High grads told: "You're not special" - The Swellesley Report)</p>
<p>This also reminded me to revisit what I consider one of the finest commencement addresses of all time, which the late David Foster Wallace gave at Kenyon College in 2005.</p>
<p>[DAVID</a> FOSTER WALLACE, IN HIS OWN WORDS | More Intelligent Life](<a href=“http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/david-foster-wallace-in-his-own-words]DAVID”>http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/david-foster-wallace-in-his-own-words)</p>
<p>And of course, perhaps the most famous commencement address never ever uttered at a commencement (and often misattributed to Kurt Vonnegut):</p>
<p>[Advice</a>, like youth, probably just wasted on the young - chicagotribune.com](<a href=“http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-schmich-sunscreen-column,0,5909206,full.column]Advice”>http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-schmich-sunscreen-column,0,5909206,full.column)</p>
<p>For the record, I remember that the speaker at my high school graduation was the president of Mack Trucks. That is all I remember about it. Some guy named Ted Koppel gave the keynote at my college graduation, but all I can recall was that it was hot on Franklin Field that day.</p>
<p>Feel free to share any links to other great commencement speeches…</p>