Monday, May 14, 2012

Edward's speech on STMC's 35th Speech Competition

Are You Willing?
Today, for around 4 minutes of your day, I want to ask you just one question. Are you willing? You might be wondering what exactly am I talking about. I want to talk to you about the concept that many people don’t quite understand about ‘What are you willing to do?’. This speech might sound a bit cheesy, I know, but when I was asked to write this speech, and I hear soo many people suggesting their ideas on games, sports, animals, I thought I’d make mine a little different.
Some of you may know that I love basketball, sometimes you see me in the hall, carrying a ball. Sometimes not. But what most of you, in fact I think all of you, don’t know is the amount of hours, days, I’ve put into the game, the dedication. I’m not going to say that I am best at it, I’m not even close, but I will and can say that I am willing to wake up every morning at 5:40 to play the game and to play it whenever I have the chance, just so I can become the best that I can be. To reach my greatest potential, in this sport. I am willing. Does this mean that I am willing to do other things, such as doing my homework? No, not at all. But I do, because I have to. Am I willing to play the piano? Definitely not. But, I am willing to work in the morning before I come to school, because I am willing to get somewhere in my life.
To be honest, when I look around and I see people around me, whether it be in hallways or anywhere, I sometimes think; how many of these people know what they want to be in their life? How many of them actually have a goal? How far are they willing to go for that goal? Are YOU willing to work for your goal? I’ve got no idea of the answer, only you know. Now, let me tell you a little bit of where my whole speech came from.
2 weeks ago during spring break, I went to a basketball camp. Many great players from all over BC where there for the whole week. On the fourth day of the camp, my coach gave us a little story. He decided to tell us about his basketball life, which began somewhat during grade 8. He loved the game. He was and is known as the best basketball player to have ever come out of BC, other than Steve Nash. But the thing that brought him to success was setting goals for himself. And he worked hard to achieve those goals. He’d wake up every morning at 5:45,his coach would pick him up to the gym, and they’d work on his game everyday before school for 3 years. That’s a great example of someone who is willing to work to achieve.
So in conclusion, I’m not telling any of you to go and wake up every morning or whatever and work on something. I’m just telling you what you need to do if you want to go anywhere in your life. Not meaning that you’re gonna have to wake up early, but that you’re going to have to work to be successful, and more importantly, you’re going to have to be willing to.