Georgia Tech welcome
speech gets over 340,00 hits
Atlanta
(CNN)
-- Georgia
Institute of Technology student Nicholas Selby is a force to be reckoned with.
The sophomore is a Mechanical Engineering major, co-leads
Team Solar Jackets -- Georgia Tech's team that built and raced a solar-powered
car in the Formula Sun
Grand Prix -- and is a president's scholar, representing the top 2%
of enrolled students at the university.
It's safe to say he must have a lot of energy -- and it
appears to have been unleashed during his welcome speech Sunday to this year's
freshman class.
It started out like many other convocations. Faculty, staff
and notable guests, including Selby -- dressed in a traditional black robe with
his mortarboard perfectly perched upon his head -- addressed the new recruits:
"We chose Georgia Tech because we want to do the impossible."
But then, something unexpected started to unfold. Music from
"2001: A Space Odyssey" began as Selby quoted Sir Isaac Newton:
"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of
giants."
As the trumpets from the iconic movie theme song swelled, so
did Selby's passion, with the cadence a drill sergeant would envy.
"Crush the shoulders of the giants upon whom we stand.
We here are all such innovative people. So I am telling you: If you want to
change the world, you're at Georgia Tech! You can do that! If you want to build
the Iron Man suit, you're at Georgia Tech! You can do that! And if you want to
play theme music during your convocation speech like a bad ass, we're at
Georgia Tech, we can do that! I am doing that!"
Selby breathlessly finished the speech with his arms raised
in victory, to applause from the roughly 4,000 people in attendance -- some of
whom seemed a little shell-shocked from his intensity.
After a brief pause, Selby deadpanned with a smirk:
"Congratulations on your acceptance and brace yourselves for a hell of a
ride on your way to becoming a hell of an engineer."
That last phrase was a reference to refrain of the school's
famous fight song.
Freshmen, wearing their traditional yellow caps slightly
askew, appeared stunned; and they weren't the only ones.
Video of the speech is going viral with over 340,000 hits
since being posted Monday.
Comments on the video range from poking fun at Selby's
appearance -- "Welcome to Hogwarts," a reference to Selby's Harry
Potter-like appearance -- to enthusiasm. One person commented, "I am 30
yrs old, I already went to college. I am married, I have a kid, and a full time
job in New York... and after watching that, I just applied to Georgia
Tech."
Another person felt the speech was so epic that becoming
Selby's best friend feels possible "Because I go to Georgia Tech!"