The Foundation for a Meaningful Life
Kindergarten - Grade 9 in Southborough, MA
Kindergarten - Grade 9 in Southborough, MA
Distinctions
Public Speaking
First Place: "Living Like a Pro" by Mingqian Irvin Li
Good evening everybody. As most of you know, I am Irvin without a “g”. For those of you who don’t, I am Irvin, I, R, V, I, N, Irvin, no “g”.
Today, a lot of people are struggling with life, and they just always seem so busy and disoriented by the difficulties in life. They’re like, “oh my god, I literally can’t even.” First of all, always remember Poteris Modo Velis, "You can if you will."
Second of all, the only reason why these people literally can’t even is that they did not master how to live before they started doing other stuff. They are like toddlers who haven’t even learned how to walk without falling, trying to compete in the Olympics, or me playing in the National Football League. It’s just gonna end up in a fiasco, like Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign.
Second of all, the only reason why these people literally can’t even is that they did not master how to live before they started doing other stuff. They are like toddlers who haven’t even learned how to walk without falling, trying to compete in the Olympics, or me playing in the National Football League. It’s just gonna end up in a fiasco, like Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign.
So I’m going to talk about how to live like a professional. Don’t misunderstand me, this ain’t some kind of Pathway to Success or Chicken Soup for the Soul or other jibber-jabber impractical stuff. This speech is purely about how to LIVE, not how to survive, but how to LIVE in this perilous world. If you want to know how to survive, you don’t need to listen to me. Go watch people who are “lost” in the wild and try to survive on Discovery Channel.
Life is like a wild horse on a prairie. If you put a harness on that thing you get to ride it anywhere you want, YEEHAW! Otherwise, you just end up chasing it around and around and around until you get exhausted. My point is, if you can master life, it’ll be much easier to start to achieve more difficult goals.
So how to live like a pro? The number one thing is to focus on yourself. Do not be a slave to other people’s opinions, which should be banned by the 13th Amendment. Listen to criticism if you think it's helpful, but don’t be overly manipulated by others. It’s all about how you think and what you think you should do. I mean, it’s your life, right? We are all human individuals, not robots with a remote control.
The first and most important step of being a professional at living is to have the confidence and independence of a professional. For example, my laptop keeps telling me to install “urgent” windows updates. I’m just like, nah, and my computer is working fine. So trust your own brain, do what you think is beneficial, and do it the way you want to do it. Build a shield generator around yourself to protect yourself from the malicious and fallible comments from others as well as absorbing helpful advice. Remember, you are not a restaurant on Yelp, so other people don’t get to rate you. Although there is a website called “ratemyteachers.com”, but that’s irrelevant here.
The first and most important step of being a professional at living is to have the confidence and independence of a professional. For example, my laptop keeps telling me to install “urgent” windows updates. I’m just like, nah, and my computer is working fine. So trust your own brain, do what you think is beneficial, and do it the way you want to do it. Build a shield generator around yourself to protect yourself from the malicious and fallible comments from others as well as absorbing helpful advice. Remember, you are not a restaurant on Yelp, so other people don’t get to rate you. Although there is a website called “ratemyteachers.com”, but that’s irrelevant here.
After you have what it takes to live like a pro, let’s learn some strategies. A very important thing to do is to refuse to plan for failure. I am not promising that failures are impossible, but it is helpful not to think about it. Things in my life have mostly been pretty smooth, that’s because I do not provide myself a Plan B, there’s only Plan A, and that’s winning. I call this method “Cutting the escape route behind you.” For example, before I participate in a competition, I always brag to my mom with a cocky attitude. “No worries, this is easy-peasy. I got this.” By saying that, I destroyed my option of failing, or else she’ll have the opportunity to rub my failure in my face ten times more cockier than I was, and I’m definitely not letting that happen. This tactic is very effective because it compels you to get things done.
Even if everything goes south, just say, “Whatever, I don’t care.” Notice that it’s not telling people to stop caring, it’s just a way to move on and put your focus on a new event that you are able to make an impact on. Repeat after me: say, “Whatever, I don’t care.” Yeah, now you are starting to sound like a veteran of life.
Even if everything goes south, just say, “Whatever, I don’t care.” Notice that it’s not telling people to stop caring, it’s just a way to move on and put your focus on a new event that you are able to make an impact on. Repeat after me: say, “Whatever, I don’t care.” Yeah, now you are starting to sound like a veteran of life.
Forcing ourselves to win is not all what it takes to live professionally. Energy is the real deal that gets the job done. Determination and self-confidence are only ways to exploit your potential, so it’s important not to waste energy and put it to good use. The lesson to learn here is that though we should be confident, we shouldn’t get cocky and wage a war against the system. In almost all cases, when individuals try to show their defiance against the powerful system, they just end up getting knocked out mercilessly. There are small systems and big systems. A school is a small system, a government is a big system, and systems are always stronger than individuals, so never wage a war on any system.
Let me give you a historical example. I’m from China, okay? We don’t have freedom of expression in China. Has anyone fought for it? Yes. 1989 June 4th, in Tian’anmen Square in Beijing, hundreds and thousands of students and professors protested for freedom of expression. Their cause was right and just, but they got shot by soldiers with rifles and flattened by tanks. What they did was heroic and bold, and to this day the Communist government still won’t admit and apologize for the sin they committed. Therefore, never go against the system.
Another way to save energy is to stop pouting about stuff. Just solve the problem directly. For example, when all our tech was taken away on Steward middle floor, I didn’t complain or try to rebel, which would be reckless and unwise because that would be waging a war against a system. What I did was open a nightclub in my room for people to come and be entertained without technology. Although no people came, I still managed to have a good time in my room. See? Problem solved and no energy wasted.
Let me give you a historical example. I’m from China, okay? We don’t have freedom of expression in China. Has anyone fought for it? Yes. 1989 June 4th, in Tian’anmen Square in Beijing, hundreds and thousands of students and professors protested for freedom of expression. Their cause was right and just, but they got shot by soldiers with rifles and flattened by tanks. What they did was heroic and bold, and to this day the Communist government still won’t admit and apologize for the sin they committed. Therefore, never go against the system.
Another way to save energy is to stop pouting about stuff. Just solve the problem directly. For example, when all our tech was taken away on Steward middle floor, I didn’t complain or try to rebel, which would be reckless and unwise because that would be waging a war against a system. What I did was open a nightclub in my room for people to come and be entertained without technology. Although no people came, I still managed to have a good time in my room. See? Problem solved and no energy wasted.
On your way to getting a Ph.D. at living. One essential thing to possess is an upbeat attitude. Why are so many people being so melancholy every single day? I honestly don’t know. What’s so depressing that it makes them frown all the time. The thing that really annoys me is that people are not even trying to be more positive. Quoting Mr. Heard, our Head of Upper School, there’s a difference between struggling and not trying, and these people are clearly not trying at all. People have to learn how to be upbeat.
Now, I understand everyone has stuff to worry about, so here’s a trick: try to capture the little delights in life. For instance, when Starbucks finally managed to spelled my name correctly, I’m like, yeah! One out of five times, they figured out that just because I grew up in a big city does not mean my name is “Urban.” Good for them! When I find out that I haven’t used all my 4G LTE data, I’m like yeah! In spite of the fact that T-Mobile’s coverage is still terrible. They claim they doubled it, but they didn’t realize that zero times two is still zero. When someone finally Snap-chats me, I’m like, oh my god, everyone likes me, I’m the coolest kid ever. Then I find out it’s from Team Snapchat, but I’m still kind of happy that they bothered to Snapchat me.
Anyway, people always ask me why I am so happy all the time. Well, it’s really the little delights that accumulate into a good mood, and if everyone can learn how to cheer themselves up, not only would they become a professional at their own lives, the world would be filled with more positivity.
Now, I understand everyone has stuff to worry about, so here’s a trick: try to capture the little delights in life. For instance, when Starbucks finally managed to spelled my name correctly, I’m like, yeah! One out of five times, they figured out that just because I grew up in a big city does not mean my name is “Urban.” Good for them! When I find out that I haven’t used all my 4G LTE data, I’m like yeah! In spite of the fact that T-Mobile’s coverage is still terrible. They claim they doubled it, but they didn’t realize that zero times two is still zero. When someone finally Snap-chats me, I’m like, oh my god, everyone likes me, I’m the coolest kid ever. Then I find out it’s from Team Snapchat, but I’m still kind of happy that they bothered to Snapchat me.
Anyway, people always ask me why I am so happy all the time. Well, it’s really the little delights that accumulate into a good mood, and if everyone can learn how to cheer themselves up, not only would they become a professional at their own lives, the world would be filled with more positivity.
This brings me to the final point. Be appreciative. Nothing is eternal other than the universe itself. So appreciate the things you have. Appreciate your friends and families, appreciate your fortune, appreciate your good luck that has driven you to today. Appreciate your identity as a human being on this planet, the fact that you are a human being, not the unlucky cats whose pictures got leaked everywhere on the Internet. Appreciate your vitality, because someday every one of us is going to fade away from this world. Appreciate everything that you possess and capture the goodness of life, and that is the last thing to remember before going to the outside world and start living like a pro.
That’s it, thank you very much. Please share this with more and more people, so more and more people will no longer struggle with life. If everyone can follow this course of how to live like a pro, I say we’re literally halfway there to making the world a perfect place.
48 MAIN STREET
SOUTHBOROUGH, MA 01772
main number 508-490-8250
admission 508-490-8201
SOUTHBOROUGH, MA 01772
main number 508-490-8250
admission 508-490-8201
