Moth Grandslam Winner Colin Ryan - Saved By The Belle

keep your applause going for your next storyteller opening the second half welcome to the stage Colin Ryan do you remember the first moment that the approval of your peers mattered more than the approval of your parents I know that it hadn't happened yet when I was in fifth grade because as fifth graders we were the undisputed kings of Francis Stevens elementary school and there was no questioning our choices you could have told me Colin it's not cool to wear the same pair of sweatpants every single day of school but I was comfortable and you could have told me Colin it's not cool to go to the school dance and do the Macarena for the entire duration of Guns and Roses November rain I would not have stopped you could have told me Colin it's not cool to be an active member of your local churches clown troupe all right I knew that one wasn't cool fifth grade was the last year I can remember believing that the world needed more of two things juggling and Jesus yeah you can laugh that's that's the most fun way to describe being raised fundamentalist I'm better now it's fine thank you and then I went to sixth grade I went to middle school and all of a sudden to survive it was clear there were only two options I could somehow be cool or I could somehow be invisible and I got to say I was doing pretty well at option two until third period on the first day of school when a teacher had us a questionnaire with a series of get-to-know-you questions and I assumed that she would be reading them privately so I felt safe to share from the perspective of a sweat pants wearing Macarena dancing Christian clowning little snowflake that I was but easier collected the sheets shuffled them up and then redistributed them to the class where we went one by one and read the student's name and then we would read our three favorite answers that they gave my sheet ended up in the hands of a kid I don't remember his name but he was one of the coolest and meanest kids I'd ever met and by coincidence his three favorite answers were the three worst possible questions I could have had read out loud in front of my peers the first question was what is your favorite movie and the other kids had said scream Universal Soldier and I remember thinking we're 11 how are you seeing r-rated movies my answer was Beauty and the Beast which I maintain has held up better than those other two movies but I could not make that argument effectively at the time and this laughs you know erupted from the room and I felt my cheeks burned because I knew we were just getting started the next question he chose to read was where would you like to travel the other kids had said Australia Japan Paris and I said wherever a book takes me I can hear in some of you a sort of maternal instinct kick in and I could have used you on that day because the laughter this time had an explosive quality to it the kids were high-fiving in front of my face the final question this kid chose to read was what do you like to do on the weekends the other kids that said hang out with friends go to the mall where I'm assuming they were sneaking into R rated movies my answer was performing with clowns for Christ loved to love to pull that one back if I could those who weren't laughing at me were sort of staring at me and disgust at this point yeah those are two very intense things together I agree that's a lot to process and I remember that I felt about an inch tall I remember staring at my Trapper Keeper and trying to figure out if I could somehow disappear inside of it and I wanted to stand up and yell out I get it I'm gonna quit clowns I'm gonna watch r-rated movies I'm gonna do whatever it takes to be invisible but right then something amazing happened a voice from the back of the room said guys cut it out and the room went silent the voice belonged to Michelle Seaver and Michelle Seaver was popular and cool Michelle Seaver had sway and the room was quiet but Michelle wasn't done she turned to the teacher and said why are you letting this happen what is the point of this if we're just gonna make fun of each other and to this day I don't remember the teacher the class the names of any of the kids in that class but I remember Michelle severs first and last name I remember how it felt when she spoke up for me because on that day she showed me that we actually have three options you can be cool you might be remembered for a little while you can be invisible and you won't be remembered at all but if you stand up for somebody when they need you most then you will be remembered as their hero for the rest of their life thank you

Channel: Colin Ryan

Views: 20,785

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Id: gJastvbJJWA

Length: 7min 11sec (431 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 11 2016