The System Didn't Break You. Now It's Your Turn. A Note To Council Rock Students.

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Forget everything you thought you knew about graduation speeches. This isn't about congratulatory platitudes or vague promises of bright futures – it's a raw, unfiltered call to rebellion that tears down the façade of educational institutions and challenges graduates to forge their own paths with unapologetic authenticity.

"Fall in love with getting absolutely smacked by life and then standing up like Rocky in round 14, bleeding hope and spitting attitude." These words capture the essence of a message that transforms the traditional graduation milestone into something far more powerful: a launch point for meaningful resistance against systems that prioritize compliance over curiosity. The speaker delivers "hoagie-level honesty" while dissecting how schools train students to chase rubrics rather than develop genuine thinking skills, sending them into a world that ultimately doesn't care about their proficiency bands or perfect attendance records.

What makes this address particularly compelling is its rejection of educational authority figures as worthy role models. Instead of venerating administrators who hide behind "alignment" and "stakeholder synergy," graduates are urged to become their own heroes. "You have a phone, a brain, a backbone. That's your startup kit." This entrepreneurial mindset – creating without permission, building without approval – becomes the alternative graduation roadmap. The closing challenge resonates far beyond the ceremony: "Will you live safe or will you live loud? Will you conform or will you confront?" It's an invitation to walk across the stage "like it's a protest," to claim education as a beginning rather than an end, and to embrace the power of being "impossible to ignore."

Ready to reject educational platitudes and embrace authentic rebellion? This episode will change how you think about success, authority, and what it truly means to graduate into a life of meaning. Share your thoughts about educational rebellion and what advice you wish you'd received at your graduation.

 #GraduateLoud
 #RebelDiploma
 #BleedHopeSpitAttitude
 #FistUpCapOn
 #BurnTheRubric
 #ClassOfConfrontation
 #CommenceRebellion
 #HoagieLevelHonesty
 #StartupKitMindset
 #ImpossibleToIgnore

 #WalkTheStageLikeAProtest
 #NotYourValedictorianSpeech
 #DitchThePlatitudes
 #ForgetPerfectAttendance
 #GraduateAndDisrupt
 #AlignThis

 #ConformOrConfront
 #FallInLoveWithFailingForward
 #YourBrainYourRules
 #UnteachTheSystem
 #ThinkLoudLiveLouder

 #RockBottomPodcast
 #EdReformNow
 #EducationRebellion
 #YouthNotPawns
 #DiplomaWithAnEdge

Peace, Love & God Above! :-)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 0 (00:00):
All right.
So good evening, council Rock,and welcome to the one
graduation speech that won'tpretend the last four years or
three years as this school goeswere magical or transformative,
because if we're keeping it 100,it was like three years of
overpriced cafeteria salads,half-day schedules sold as what
academic flexibility, and asuperintendent that was so
checked out.
He probably thinks curriculumis a brand of oat milk.

(00:22):
I mean, come on seriously.
So congrats, class of 2025.
You survived 12 years ofeducational hunger games,
dodging budget cuts, fake techinitiatives, hallway police and
the kind of administrative logicthat makes flat earthers look
like scientists.
So, but tonight I'm not here toshake your hands, I'm here to
shake the walls, really.
So I want you to pay attention.

(00:42):
Most of you are graduatingwithout knowing how interest
works, or taxes or why.
Your school spent six figureson learning pods that look like
shipping containers.
Someone sprayed painted beige.
You do know how to scan a qrcode to prove you were present
in homeroom.
How to write a five paragraphessay on a book no one read.
How to memorize 200 slides ofgoogle classroom fluff uploaded
by a teacher forced to follow apacing guide written by someone

(01:04):
who hasn't seen a student sincemyspace was popping.
You know you were trained to becompliant, not curious.
You were programmed to chaserubrics and proficiency bands
like lab rats in a spreadsheetmaze.
And now we're sending you intothe real world where they don't
care about rubrics, they care.
You know, if you can think, ifyou can lead, if you can show up
without sounding like an excuse, factory wrapped in a Patagonia

(01:24):
fleece.
Gary Vee said it best Love GaryVee.
If you don't know who that is,google it.
Fall in love with losing, so letme remix it for Council Rock.
Fall in love with gettingabsolutely smacked by life and
then standing up like Rocky inround 14, bleeding hope and
spitting attitude.
Life doesn't grade on a curve.
There's no retake for missedrent.
There's no bonus points foreffort.

(01:45):
In a job interview You're goingto get embarrassed, ghosted,
rejected.
Some of you will bomb yourfirst semester.
Some of you will move back homeand deliver door dash to the
people who sat behind you inhonors English, that's not
failure, that's calledfoundation and it's your
foundation.
And losing ain't a setback,it's the down payment for
success.
I want you to remember that yoursuperintendent is not your role

(02:06):
model.
Yeah, I said it, andy is not aleader, he's a spreadsheet
mascot in khakis.
He uses buzzwords likealignment and stakeholder
synergy but can't explain whyhis own staff turnover rate
looks like a Sixers tradedeadline and there is turnover
on that staff.
Don't fucking let it fool you.
You think he's in those budgetmeetings for you?
No, he's there to protect theillusion, the illusion that the

(02:29):
system works, that the boardmeetings are transparent, that
those district-wide initiativesweren't cooked up in a google
doc while sipping duncan becausethey're too fucking cheap to
get starbucks.
And he talks about 21st centurylearners while forcing teachers
to use tech from the fuckingBush administration, I mean.
He preaches student-centeredinstruction while ignoring the

(02:49):
fact that you're drowning inanxiety, debt pressure and
emotional burnout.
And let me say this loud theonly roadmap, the only roadmap
that he's given you, leadsstraight to a dead-end line with
LinkedIn buzzwords and invoicepadding.
So stop waiting for heroes.
Be your own damn role model.
All right, seriously, it's goodadvice.
You don't need Andy's approval.
You don't need Al's signature,the director of secondary

(03:11):
education.
You don't need a committee, asubcommittee or a $12,000
motivational speaker flown infrom San Diego to tell you
you're allowed a big dream.
I used to live in San Diego.
Trust me, no one from San Diegois worth that much money.
You have a phone, a brain, abackbone.
That's your startup kit.
Like, seriously like, launch aYouTube channel, build the app,
write a diss track.

(03:31):
It works for a lot of rappers,you know.
Invent the niche.
And if somebody in authoritysays, but where's the policy,
tell them it's in the same placeas your credibility.
It's gone.
This ain't New York City.
This is Council Rock, bucksCounty, eagles Nation Wawa
Headquarters.
We don't do fake, we don't dosafe, we do grit, we do sarcasm,
we do hoagie level honesty.

(03:53):
So stop pretending.
If you hate your major switch,if you're not, okay, say it.
If you want to drop out andbuild something, build it.
Forget the filters, forget thelikes and build it.
Forget the filters, forget thelikes, forget impressing people
you don't even like.
Be the one who tells the truth,be the one that stands up.
Be the one who actually gives adamn in a room full of people
chasing clouds.
So, class of 2025, will you livesafe or will you live loud?

(04:15):
Will you conform or will youconfront?
Will you be another cog inAndy's district-wide fantasy or
will you tear down that fantasyand build something that
actually matters?
The real world is a war zone,dressed up in job fairs and
college brochures.
But you, you are the storm, youare the rebellion, you are what
happens when the system forgetsto unplug the microphone before

(04:35):
the truth starts talking.
Walk across that stage like it'sa protest, smile for the
picture, but smuggle in the fire.
You know what I mean.
Like when you shake that hand,grip it, grip it tight and think
to yourself the system had 12years to break me.
It didn't break me.
Now it's my turn and congrats.
Now go be impossible to ignore.
Go, do something amazing.

(04:57):
And don't do it because someteacher told you that you're the
best or because you learnedsomething in English or history
that you think might be usefulwhen you're fucking 37 years old
.
No, do whatever it is that youwant to do, because this is the
real world.
You only have one life and liveit to the fullest.
Don't think about what anybodyelse thinks about you.
Think about what you thinkabout yourself, because that's

(05:17):
all that matters.
I'm DJ ESG, trust me.
It's great advice and it's free.
Peace, love and God above, andI'm out Bye-bye.