‘You Will Be Stupid’

‘You Will Be Stupid’


We like to think that we don’t make stupid mistakes or do stupid things, but as Ira Glass reminds us in his commencement speech at Goucher College in 2012, that’s not really possible. In fact, we all do stupid things constantly, so it’s good to get used to it.

Glass explains exactly what he means here:

You will be stupid. You will worry your parents as I worried mine. You will question your own choices. You will question your relationships, your jobs, your friends, where you live, what you studied in college-that you went to college at all-and the thing I want to say is: That is totally OK. That is totally normal. If that happens, you’re doing it right.

You know, when you’re in school, you’re on a path, and there are signposts, and there are goals. They give you grades, which, in retrospect, is an insanely wonderful thing that people are constantly grading you and telling you, ‘You did well! You did badly! You did well!’ Now you are going to join the confusing mess of life with me and your parents and the rest of us, that we’ve been living in for years ahead of you, where it is not clear at all how to evaluate anything that you are doing or how you’re going to spend the rest of this time on this earth. Welcome to your future.

You can find Glass’ full speech and a ton more over on NPR’s massive list of the best commencement addresses.

Ira Glass Goucher College 2012 [NPR]


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