The Psche of a Runner

Adam Carroll is a pretty convincing guy considering he gets paid to go around and tell people how to manage money. He has all the life story and background to follow along the path of any one mind’s dream career. Carroll had to dip into the good and bad of experiencing a college kid’s budget. He got to see both sides of the spectrum and to know the safe feeling money can give you. The one big take away for me, however, was how he was open to bring in a unique idea of money management. This was in part due to his ability to look at the big picture. This connects to what college students hope to do for their future career. It’s not all about that in his eyes though, it’s about just getting a good start on life. I think this speech would be best suited for older college students who are looking more for a direction but it still was fulfilling in content for any that is willing to listen.

I got the opportunity to hear two speeches on Palmer Research day. I will be discussing the second because I believe it was more intuitive and it was my favorite.

The big picture here was to show the magic effect that myth and music have had on us. He went about this by breaking down the classic myth of Orpheus. He focused on common themes that included the power of love as a motivator, using music as a metaphor of hope and meaningful to life. He used one of two tellings of the myth that lead down the path until Orpheus had to save his love, his inspiration from the underworld. He ended up losing his musical gift for which he was known for when he lost his love. That took away part of Orpheus’s identity. It was on him for he lost confidence and therefore lost his love too. The speaker paralleled this to music as a whole. Music is a huge part of many of our lives. Music inspires and extends who we are. People who identity themselves with music go through a similar thing as Orpheus as they strive to perfect the art of music. Both Greeks and our present culture share this musical gift to guide parts of life. Our pop culture reflects that and especially in my favorite tv show, Glee. Music is hope and inspiration for the beauty of our lives.

I want to also point out a couple key parallels from the first speech to enhance both of them. The first one compared myths of old to our present day opera and the arts. In a way, she was saying that myths and plays of the past were like their motif of pop culture. The influence and love of music inspired by these ancient stories have become integral parts of current day pop culture. She pointed out an opera structured after the Orpheus myth. You can also see the workings of this in retellings of Romeo and Juliet, the Odyssey, and the Bible stories.