Words from a wallflower

Rethinking the Unknown

While I have been keeping up with the news updates that have been plastering my tv and phone screens, I have turned to the campaign Some Good News that has been launched by John Krasinski for an uplifting escape. He recently announced on Twitter that he would host a virtual graduation on his next YouTube video for all of the 2020 graduates, asking for valedictorian speakers and topics for his speech. In that same tweet, there was a picture of him at a university graduation. I assumed he had given a speech and found the video of him speaking at Brown University, where he graduated from.

Krasinski centered his speech around this question: What do I know? He shared what to do when people become nervous, especially when those nerves stem out of fear of the unknown, saying everyone has dealt with the unknown to get to this point in their lives and going into the next chapter doesn’t have to be any different than the way they have conquered every other chapter before.

The last minute of the speech brought these beautiful lines: “Remember to be scared. You’ve been scared before; you’ll be scared again. Find more of your people. Lean all the way in. Take chances, fail big, and take chances again. Listen to music. Remember to believe in something, and fall in love as many times as it takes. And remember, before you do something special, just do something.”

While watching his speech, of course I knew it was directed at a completely different university at a different time (even though it was just last year), but it resonated with me. My excitement over getting into law school at the University of Oregon still hasn’t diminished, but the practical questions are starting to run through my mind. Where am I going to live? Is it worth looking at apartments right now if classes are still going to be online? Will classes even be online at that point? These are very real concerns that students are asking themselves right now around the nation, wondering what’s ahead and perhaps becoming a bit nervous about the unknown.

Remember Krasinki’s words. I keep telling myself that, and I’m sure other students, especially upcoming graduates, can find comfort in them, as they are reminded they have come this far and are more than capable of pushing through while embracing all the things that are going to come their way.