Grads shouldn’t let speeches go to their heads

We’re luckier than we are talented, and we aren’t likely to change the world, Diamond Yao says.

It’s graduation season, and I cannot bear another speech about how “we are the best of the best” and “we are going to do great things” and “help make the world a better place.” I am sick and tired of being fed this elitist propaganda that tries to make me believe that all of my successes in life are thanks to me being a superstar person and that to live a meaningful life it’s all about “giving back” and “making the world a better place.”

Here’s the truth. I’m not “the best of the best.” I may have some talents, but I really am not that great, even if I ended up at McGill, one of the best universities in the country. First, I was born a Canadian citizen, thanks to my ancestors. This gave me access to opportunities and a quality of life that most people in the world will never know. I am also lucky enough to live in a province where higher education is heavily subsidized and where I am able to get an additional huge grant from the government to pursue it, which makes it possible for a first-generation university student like me, who pays for higher education out of my own pocket with zero family contribution, to graduate debt free. And I am also lucky enough to have had a good education prior to university, including a heavily subsidized stellar private CEGEP education, thanks to additional financial aid.

Yes, being an undergrad is tough and a lot of work, but the graduation speeches that tell us that “we’re the best of the best” are a huge lie that can distort our egos and make us arrogantly overestimate our powers. It’s the kind of cockiness that makes us believe that “we can change the world” because we’re just that brilliant. And when thrown into real, complicated problems, that cockiness will prevent us from adopting the humility needed to actually effect positive changes. We will believe the illusion that all that’s needed to eradicate world poverty is a brilliant social enterprise with millions in venture capital funding from Silicon Valley, that all that’s needed to bring world peace is an innovative series of tolerance workshops, that all that’s needed to solve water crises is a volunteer trip to some so-called “developing” nation to build a village-wide network of wells. Yet the reason global problems have persisted through centuries is because they are really complicated, and it is unrealistic to expect solutions quickly, much less solutions from only a single person or organization.

But these messages are much worse for the people who will never sit through a graduation of any kind. They will be told that the reason was not because there were complicated social factors — dysfunctional home environment, uneducated parents, economic hardship — that made it much harder for them to be there, but rather because they were simply not good enough.

When I succeed in collecting my “prestigious” McGill degree next year, a tiny part of me will be proud of my hard work and successes. But a much larger part of me will be absolutely outraged. I am far from being the best. I have been way too lucky, and way too lazy, for that. Some people who are 10 million times more hardworking, more disciplined and better than me spend all their brilliance trying to secure enough water to drink for their entire family.

I am far from being an innovator who will change the world. I am far from being an inspiring person.

What does a prestigious, fancy degree say about your worth? Heck, what does any university degree say about your worth?

The answer is, probably much, much less than you think.

Diamond Yao is an undergraduate at McGill University.

The graduation speeches that tell us that ‘we’re the best of the best’ are a huge lie that can distort our egos and make us arrogantly overestimate our powers.