Not being a tailor-made orator doesn’t necessarily prevent someone from giving a heck of a speech. Here’s proof.
Despite an impediment, Parker Mantell spoke to his fellow graduates at Indiana University’s commencement ceremony this May in an inspiring address. In the opening lines of his remarks, Mantell admitted that he wouldn’t be the first pick to give such a speech. He told the audience he suffers from a stutter.
“Doubt, as has been observed, kills more dreams than failure ever will,” Mantell said, explaining his courage to speak in front of thousands despite his own stuttering disability. “Yet if doubt were to be a disease, its cure would be confidence.”
Drawing upon the examples of Ray Charles, Albert Einstein, and Beethoven, Mantell explained that none of these three allowed their disability to end their aspirations. Using these examples, Mantell then dared the graduates to seek all their own goals regardless of any disabilities in their way.
“Imagine what you are depriving our world of if you never dare to achieve your purpose,” he said.
Beyond his address, Mantell said his conservative values have allowed him to fight against his own disability. In an interview with The Blaze, Mantell said, “Absolutely, my (conservative) philosophy helped me through.”
Mantell graduated from Indiana with a degree in political science, and spent time during his college years interning for Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
It was the message of Mantell’s speech that resonated with his audience, not his own personal political ideology. The month of May is often filled with stories of college students protesting a particular commencement speaker, as we’ve seen this year — but IU’s student body produced a remarkable one everybody could get behind in Mantell. Watch below.
