Aaron Moises B.

Empinado 11/09/22

ENG031

Let’s Respond

A. Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

This is the manuscript of Rick Rigsby’s commencement speech at the California State
University. Rigsby is an author, teacher, public speaker, and a character coach.

The wisest person I ever met in my life, a third-grade dropout. Wisest and dropout in the
same sentence is rather oxymoronic, like jumbo shrimp. Like Fun Run, ain’t nothing fun
about it, like Microsoft Works. You all don’t hear me. I used to say like country music,
but I’ve lived in Texas so long, I love country music now. I hunt. I fish. I have cowboy
boots and cowboy … You all, I’m a black neck redneck. Do you hear what I’m saying to
you? No longer oxymoronic for me to say country music, and it’s not oxymoronic for me
to say third grade and that third grade dropout, the wisest person I ever met in my life,
who taught me to combine knowledge and wisdom to make an impact, was my father, a
simple cook, wisest man I ever met in my life, just a simple cook, left school in the third
grade to help out on the family farm, but just because he left school doesn’t mean his
education stopped. Mark Twain once said, “I’ve never allowed my schooling to get in the
way of my education.” My father taught himself how to read, taught himself how to write,
decided in the midst of Jim Crowism, as America was breathing the last gasp of the Civil
War, my father decided he was going to stand and be a man, not a black man, not a
brown man, not a white man, but a man. He literally challenged himself to be the best
that he could all the days of his life.

I have four degrees. My brother is a judge. We’re not the smartest ones in our family.
It’s a third-grade dropout daddy, a third-grade dropout daddy who was quoting
Michelangelo, saying to us boys, “I won’t have a problem if you aim high and miss, but
I’m gonna have a real issue if you aim low and hit.” A country mother quoting Henry
Ford, saying, “If you think you can or if you think you can’t, you’re right.” I learned that
from a third-grade dropout. Simple lessons, lessons like these. “Son, you’d rather be an
hour early than a minute late.” We never knew what time it was at my house because
the clocks were always ahead. My mother said, for nearly 30 years, my father left the
house at 3:45 in the morning, one day, she asked him, “Why, Daddy?” He said, “Maybe
one of my boys will catch me in the act of excellence.”

I want to share a few things with you. Aristotle said, “You are what you repeatedly do.”
Therefore, excellence ought to be a habit, not an act. Don’t ever forget that. I know
you’re tough. I know you’re seaworthy, but always remember to be kind, always. Don’t
ever forget that. Never embarrass Mama. If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. If
Daddy ain’t happy, don’t nobody care, but I’m going to tell you.
Next lesson, lesson from a cook over there in the galley. “Son, make sure your servant’s
towel is bigger than your ego.” I want to remind you cadets of something as you
graduate. Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity. You all might have a
relative in mind you want to send that to. Let me say it again. Ego is the anesthesia that
deadens the pain of stupidity. Pride is the burden of a foolish person.

John Wooden coached basketball at UCLA for a living, but his calling was to impact
people, and with all those national championships, guess what he was found doing in
the middle of the week? Going into the cupboard, grabbing a broom and sweeping his
own gym floor. You want to make an impact? Find your broom. Every day of your life,
you find your broom. You grow your influence that way. That way, you’re attracting
people so that you can impact them.

Final lesson. “Son, if you’re going to do a job, do it right.” I’ve always been told how
average I can be, always been criticized about being average, but I want to tell you
something. I stand here before you before all of these people, not listening to those
words, but telling myself every single day to shoot for the stars, to be the best that I can
be. Good enough isn’t good enough if it can be better, and better isn’t good enough if it
can be best.

Let me close with a very personal story that I think will bring all this into focus. Wisdom
will come to you in the unlikeliest of sources, a lot of times through failure. When you hit
rock bottom, remember this. While you’re struggling, rock bottom can also be a great
foundation on which to build and on which to grow. I’m not worried that you’ll be
successful. I’m worried that you won’t fail from time to time. The person that gets up off
the canvas and keeps growing, that’s the person that will continue to grow their
influence.

Back in the ’70s, to help me make this point, let me introduce you to someone. I met the
finest woman I’d ever met in my life. Back in my day, we’d have called her a brick
house. This woman was the finest woman I’d ever seen in my life. There was just one
little problem. Back then, ladies didn’t like big old linemen. The Blind Side hadn’t come
out yet. They liked quarterbacks and running back. We’re at this dance, and I find out
her name is Trina Williams from Lompoc, California. We’re all dancing and we’re just
excited. I decide in the middle of dancing with her that I would ask her for her phone
number. Trina was the first … Trina was the only woman in college who gave me her
real telephone number.

The next day, we walked to Baskin and Robbins Ice Cream Parlor. My friends couldn’t
believe it. This has been 40 years ago, and my friends still can’t believe it. We go on a
second date and a third date and a fourth date. We drive from Chico to Vallejo so that
she can meet my parents. My father meets her. My daddy. My hero. He meets her, pulls
me to the side and says, “Is she psycho?” Anyway, we go together for a year, two
years, three years, four years. By now, Trina’s a senior in college. I’m still a freshman,
but I’m working some things out. I’m so glad I graduated in four terms, Nixon, Ford,
Carter, Reagan.
Now, it’s time to propose, so I talk to her girlfriends, and it’s California. It’s in the ’70s, so
it has to be outside, have to have a candle and you have to some chocolate. Listen, I’m
from the hood. I had a bottle of Boone’s Farm wine. That’s what I had. She said, “Yes.”
That was the key. I married the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in my … You all
ever been to a wedding and even before the wedding starts, you hear this? “How in the
world?” It was coming from my side of the family. We get married. We have a few
children. Our lives are great.

One day, Trina finds a lump in her left breast. Breast cancer. Six years after that
diagnosis, me and my two little boys walked up to Mommy’s casket and, for two years,
my heart didn’t beat. If it wasn’t for my faith in God, I wouldn’t be standing here today. If
it wasn’t for those two little boys, there would have been no reason for which to go on. I
was completely lost. That was rock bottom. You know what sustained me? The wisdom
of a third-grade dropout, the wisdom of a simple cook.

We’re at the casket. I’d never seen my dad cry, but this time I saw my dad cry. That was
his daughter. Trina was his daughter, not his daughter-in-law, and I’m right behind my
father about to see her for the last time on this earth, and my father shared three words
with me that changed my life right there at the casket. It would be the last lesson he
would ever teach me. He said, “Son, just stand. You keep standing. You keep stand …
No matter how rough the sea, you keep standing, and I’m not talking about just water.
You keep standing. No matter what. You don’t give up.” I learned that lesson from a
third-grade dropout, and as clearly as I’m talking to you today, these were some of her
last words to me. She looked me in the eye and she said, “It doesn’t matter to me any
longer how long I live. What matters to me most is how I live.”

I ask you all one question, a question that I was asked all my life by a third-grade
dropout. How are you living? How are you living? Every day, ask yourself that question.
How are you living? Here’s what a cook would suggest you to live, this way, that you
would not judge, that you would show up early, that you’d be kind, that you make sure
that that servant’s towel is huge and used, that if you’re going to do something, you do it
the right way. That cook would tell you this, that it’s never wrong to do the right thing,
that how you do anything is how you do everything, and in that way, you will grow your
influence to make an impact. In that way, you will honor all those who have gone before
you who have invested in you. Look in those unlikeliest places for wisdom. Enhance
your life every day by seeking that wisdom and asking yourself every night, “How am I
living?” May God richly bless you all. Thank you for having me here.
Based on the principles of communication, Rick Rigby’s commencement speech.
Answer these questions:
1. What is the purpose of the speech?
- The purpose of Rick Rigby’s speech is to prove that educational attainment
does not matter in life. No matter how high or low your educational attainment is,
each one of us can still leave a legacy by growing our influence that makes a
great positive impact in life. His speech centered on the lessons he had learned
from his father, a third-grade dropout who also happened to be the wisest person
he had ever met. The speech also serves as a reminder that experience along
with the lessons learned in life can serve as inspiration to others and a stepping
stone as we navigate through life.

2. What specific experiences did he share? What is the significance of these

- Rick Rigsby shared all of his life experiences that taught him how to make an
impact through the combination of knowledge and wisdom. He also told a very
personal story about his father, who helped him cope with his wife's death. The
significance of these experiences is that they help him achieve the goal of his
speech, which is to encourage the audience by sharing his own life experiences.
Sharing personal experiences in front of a large group implies that the individual
is opening himself up to the audience, which fosters trust between the audience
and the speaker.

3. What are Rick Rigby’s powerful statements that could influence the audience?

- Rick Rigby captivated and inspired the audience in a variety of ways. "Good
enough isn't good enough if you can be better," he said. "Better isn't better if
excellent is possible." He believes that failure is the best basis for growth, and
that finding your passion is the best way to influence and impact others.
Influencing the audience not to give up by saying something along the lines of
"Rock bottom is a great foundation on which to build." All of these statements are
words of wisdom and lessons from his father that have helped him immensely in
dealing with some of the most difficult times in his life.

4. Did Rick Rigby adapt his speech to his audience (college graduating class)?
Justify your answer.

- Yes, Rick Rigby adapted his speech to his audience's needs. Graduating college
students are already expected to face the real world, which includes many
disappointments, job adjustments, countless obstacles, and other sacrifices. He
intended for that topic to be both an inspiration and a warning to students that life
 after college will not be easy. That is why, to influence his audience in the most
relatable way, he tailored his lecture to his own experiences.

5. Assume that you were one of the listeners of Rick Rigby’s speech in
that commencement rite. Describe yourself as a listener. Why did you respond
that way?

- I will be immensely grateful to have been a part of his audience because his
speech taught me a lot and inspired me to do my best and never give up in all
aspects of life. His speech would inspire and motivate me as a listener because it
is so engaging, straightforward, and relatable in real life. In addition, his speech
shows how hard he worked to get to where he is now. I reacted this way because
his life experiences and lessons taught me to recognize, connect with, and relate
to him as a college student about to embark on a new journey in life.

source: Cuerda, Flordeliza M. : Purposive communication