"Kenyon Commencement Speech" by David Foster Wallace

David Foster Wallace gave the commencement speech to the graduating class of 2005 at Kenyon University. Normally, commencement speeches are positive and happy; insinuating that all college graduates' lives that now begin will be nothing but a bright filled future, and that all of their wishes, dreams, and goals will be achieved. This is not the case with David Foster Wallace. He is frank and honest with the graduating class of 2005 by simply stating this:" Life is hard. You just have to deal with it." Although, David does not say this as kindly as he could have. He goes to great extent when talking about how people can take either a negative outlook on things, or a positive outlook. Usually people take a negative outlook, focusing everything around themselves. David says this is due to our natural or "default" settings. People tend to want instant gratification, and we will do anything to get it. Anyone who happens to get in our way or ruin our plans are just complete jerks who don't care about us in the slightest. Why does this sixteen year old check out clerk have to be so bad at her job? Why does this eighty year old driver in front of me have to be going so slow?! Clearly they have no idea I'M in a hurry and I can do all of this better and than everyone else. After giving examples like those, David then turns his speech around entirely. He tells the graduating class that even though our tendency is to have these thoughts; we have the choice to be happy and to put our love into action. We have the freedom to think twice about what we may think, say, or do. David says real freedom is being educated, an that education teaches you how to think.
I wish I could have been there to hear David give this speech and to be able to look around at everyone's facial reactions to the words coming out of his mouth. It totally crosses the line of what a "normal" commencement speech sounds like! I mean, who ACTUALLY says what they are thinking? Much less in front of a graduating class and their entire families? I appreciated David's blunt-ness. As abnormal as the speech was, it speaks the absolute truth to me. The main point that David Foster Wallace is trying to sell is peace. He is trying to say give peace a chance. If us people as a population weren't so hostile and self centered, there would be greater opportunities for our very high earning college education to be lived out in everyday life. There is so much depression, war, envy, and anger in this world. We may not be able to help with every world conflict, but our little interactions can become chain reactions.
For example,  simple sign of peace would be to smile and say hello to someone you are next to in the bank line or by pushing in your chair and saying thank you to the waiter when you leave a restaurant. Smiling and being kind to someone might be the only kind thing they hear or see all day, and it can cause a chain reaction- kindness progressing from person to person.
I appreciated David Foster Wallace's honesty in his commencement speech to Kenyon. Honesty can be  very refreshing because it is something we don't hear all that often. I took his message to heart, and I only hope that the Kenyon class of 2005 did as well. Give peace a chance, its wonders are amazing.