Speech: Never give up and never give in

While trying to clear some space and sorting out my files on the laptop I decided to upload a few of my speeches. Perhaps there is still some value in these words

This speech I gave the morning of 23 February for the Elementary School assembly.



ASSEMBLY 23 FEBRUARY 2015


Before I even start. 


Before I’m even going to greet you I want you to stand up.

UP youse mugs. NICE!

Now Stretch out. To the left. To the right. Now Touch Your head. Good.

Now touch your friends head. Nice!

Now sit down.

Good Morning Dolphins!!!

Excellent. Now we’re cookin’.

I have four things that I want to talk about today and hopefully you’ll remember them when I’m done.  

Respect

Opportunity

Okay

Failure

If you’re having trouble remembering then just remember the acronym ROOF.

The First thing is RESPECT.  Respect (High voice) Respect (Batman voice)

Say it with me.

RESPECT for others, respect for yourself and respect for the world around you.

If you have a respect for others, then others will respect you. It’s that simple.

But if you tease your classmates or throw little blocks at them GRADE 3s, then you can soon find yourself all alone without any friends.

Don’t be that person.

If you want to get anywhere then you’ll need people who will help you in times of trouble. Remember the three little pigs.

When the big bad wolf came knockin on Mike the pig’s house and said LET ME IN (BATMAN VOICE) What did Mike the Pig say?

Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.

Didn’t know that pigs have chins but there you go.

Anyway the wolf blew down the house and Mike ran all the way to Bob’s house. Mike and Bob, working together put on locks, they block the door they did everything they could to make the house stronger. Walter the wolf came and did his usual routine and tried blowing down Bob’s house. But this time it was far more difficult because Bob and Mike worked together to make the house stronger.

After Walter the wolf blew and blew till he was red blue and purple in the face the house blew down. Bob and Mike ran to Sam and all three worked together to make the house so strong that Wolfie Walter couldn’t blow it down.

But the story could have ended in another way. If Mike was a jerk and if he didn’t have respect for others then Bob would never have let him in through the door.

Next is Opportunity.  Everyday, every week, every month and every year brings us so many opportunities but we don’t take it. If you have the chance to do something then take that chance and do it. Even if it’s hard work. There is opportunity in everything even in a crisis.

When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters.
One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity. Because to them they are the same thing. Nothing worth doing is easy and nothing worth having is free. The best things always takes effort and it is always worth it in the end.

Next thing is Okay. Or rather saying Okay to more things. Involve yourself more in the lives of friends and family. If a friend asks will you come fishing with him then say Okay. Even if you’re the worst fisherman in the world and the very idea of spending time away from your xbox seems ridiculous, you’ll remember the trip for years and years while the xbox game is long forgotten the next week. Those kinds of things makes life worth living. Enter competitions. Go out more. Make new friends. Try new things. Say OKAY.

Last is Failure. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes or not succeeding in the first try.  We learn more from mistakes than we do from victories.

Who knows the story of the three wise men? How they saw the star over Bethlehem and brought gifts to honour the birth of Jesus.
Who knows what they brought?

Gold, Mehr and Frankinsince.

Now, when I was in grade 1 – which was so long ago you need higher maths to figure it out. I was in a play about the birth of Jesus and played one of the wise men.

When my turn came I delivered my line flawlessly

“I bring you this gift of gold” perfect. The boy next to me said

“I bring you this gift of Mehr” no problem.

Then my friend had to deliver his line and he forgot what it was

We waited patiently for about a minute while the Sunday school teacher was pulling out her hair mouthing the lines Frankincense , Frankincense

Then he yelled. “Oh right. Frank Sent Us.” He got it wrong. The fool. Everybody was laughing at him. The next year he was back. And everybody teased him “Ah look, its Frank Sent Us”

He didn’t care, he was there to do something that he wanted to do and no amount of teasing was going to stop him.

Never give up and never give in. If you want to get something you want. Then try and try and try.

Remember ROOF.

Respect for others.

Take opportunities

Say okay more

And be afraid to fail.

Have a good week everybody.