President Obama Includes Harry Potter Story in Education Speech
Books
Posted by: Melissa
September 07, 2009, 10:12 PM
Tomorrow President Barack Obama will address the nation as it goes back to school; the pre-released text of his speech (which you can read here) includes remarks on the beginnings of Harry Potter as proof that not all great ideas or ventures are accepted as such to start:
But the truth is, being successful
is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with
every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely
relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily
succeed at everything the first time you try.
That’s OK. Some of the most
successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most
failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve
times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his
high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed
thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed
over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
These people succeeded because they
understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to
let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do
differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re
a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a
bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to
spend more time studying."
Pres. Obama will deliver the address at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va., at 10 a.m. MDT; it will be live on the C-SPAN cable channel and streamed life at
whitehouse.gov/live.
133 Comments
39680 Points
that’s brilliant! i had no idea that HP was rejected 12 times at first :( but im glad it made a success! :)
118 Points
Awesome! I can’t understand why some parents don’t want their children to hear the President’s speech.
358 Points
That’s totally awesome and yeah I don’t understand why some parents are against the speech either.
271 Points
If I were a consertative parent I wouldn’t want the president speaking to my child about healthcare. I wouldn’t want to open a dialogue and answer questions why I don’t want to have a national healthcare option. I’d then have to explain why our health insurance keeps going up. I’d have to explain that heathcare is a privilege and not a human right, and I’d have to explain why being a religious person this conflicts with what’s taught in C.C.D. or Sunday school.
3048 Points
It is just wonderful that he is incorporating someone so many children hold in such high esteem as J.K. Rowling into his speech. It is my hope that they do understand and take up the message he will try to impart.
587 Points
harry potter reference… love it!
433 Points
That’s interesting Monica considering his entire speech is about staying in school and having goals, etc. Conservatives would realize that if they read the speech. Instead they “fear” that they may have to disgust “difficult topics.” Really? Explaining to kids that going to the doctor costs money is difficult? Weird.
308 Points
Wow. That’s awesome!
The only thing I’m worried about is that, in my area, people are already mad about President Obama addressing their children, and those people are also very anti-Harry Potter.
Anyway, most of those people already hate Obama so much this isn’t really going to change anything.
Go President Obama!
308 Points
Wow. That’s awesome!
The only thing I’m worried about is that, in my area, people are already mad about President Obama addressing their children, and those people are also very anti-Harry Potter.
Anyway, most of those people already hate Obama so much this isn’t really going to change anything.
Go President Obama!
433 Points
Whoops. Discuss not disgust.
161 Points
Oh man. I go to high school in Arlington… Too bad it’s H-B and not Wakefield, though I do love H-B.
Obama’s speech is very positive – nothing controversial. I love that he loves Harry Potter so much. And – reading Monica’s post – I think she’s being sarcastic actually.
1397 Points
Jobama lives lol!
But in all seriousness, everytime the world gets a little more hateful and intolerant I just remember truly that the weapon we have is love. Speaking as a student, with two parents that are both teachers in the public school system, I have seen more than my fair share of the school system that is currently in place in America. This system gives students so little incentive to learn and puts so much emphasis on tests that learning is no longer the goal because for a school to survive it can’t be. Students are often pushed to the side and not included in the system that is supposed to all be about them. I think it is fantastic that, for once someone is adressing students about their schooling and education and if Harry Potter is involved all the better.
406 Points
It’s an awesome speech, and quite honestly, after people hear or read it, they are just going to realize that the parents who are in such an uproar over President Obama talking to the kids are just silly. There is nothing in that speech, unless they jump all over the reference to Rowling. And I’m sure that some of them will.
Blatcher(ROAR), I so completely agree with what you said about the state of education today. By the time my daughters were in high school and graduated (1997 and 2000), it was more and more about testing and working on projects. It was the basics of all their classes that suffered the most. As they started college, they had to take classes to fill in the gaps that shouldn’t have been there.
I was glad to see that Pres. Obama pointed out why it is so important for kids to stay in school and to do well and that it is their responsibility. I think all too often, if a kid doesn’t do well, they are ready to blame everyone else for their lack of success.
that’s brilliant! i had no idea that HP was rejected 12 times at first :( but im glad it made a success! :)