Graduation Speech Without the Uplift

An English teacher at Wellesley High School gave a fully loaded commencement speech with a real life edge to it. He says everybody is not special. If everybody were special, they would not be. It would be common to be special which crosses out the meaning of special basically. So, do you think you are special? Of course we all think we are special. We all are in our own unique ways. While I can appreciate this straight talk and from a teacher no less, I think it could have been timed differently. A commencement speech it meant to encourage them to go on and reach for the stars. By telling them they aren't all that great, so don't bother, they won't. I really do understand what he was trying to do, as these kids probably don't get this speech from anyone. I would have liked him to add in there (with some words changed of course) that it is up to them to make themselves special and stand out. At a time when entitlement is at it's all time high, I don't know if cold turkey tough love is what these kids need-- especially after graduating high school. I understand these kids are privileged, if not monetarily, then in the fact that they had a great education from a school that is one of the best. I don't profess to have the answer, but I know what isn't the answer. However, I'd like to know if given a survey at the end of the term, how well liked was this teacher? What were his students grades? That would tell the rest of the story. I'm not sure he'll be back next year. If he is, I'd be shocked.