The Jaycees have quarterly writing and speaking competitions called “Write Up” and “Speak Up.” Aside from the competitive aspect, the idea behind the two programs is to give the participants the opportunity to practice their writing and public speaking skills and get feedback in an environment where the repercussions for mistakes are relatively minor (as opposed to messing up a presentation at the office).
The programs have a shared list of topics which the participants can choose from. The one I chose was “Have you ever been going about your day with the radio playing in the background and had the lyrics to a particular song really reach out to you? If so, what was the song and how did it have meaning in your life? If not, you might consider changing the station once in a while.”
I used the same topic for both competitions. What appears below is my entry for the writing competition. My entry for the speaking event was similar, though somewhat longer. (Actually, the end wound up being trimmed a little to fit into the time constraints and still went 30 seconds over.)
I didn’t win either competition, but I’m quite happy that I tried.

For the past four years, I’ve found myself associating Chad Kroeger’s song “Hero” with the Spiderman movie franchise. This probably isn’t very surprising since that’s the song playing during the closing credits. Much like the life of Peter Parker, the song isn’t completely happy (“Look what love gave us, a world full of killing, and blood spilling”), but there’s a line in the chorus I can’t help but find inspirational.
“They say that a hero can save us, I’m not gonna stand here and wait.”
For me, that line epitomizes what makes Peter Parker a hero. It’s also the epitome of what it is to be a Jaycee. That sounds like I’m claiming to be some kind of a superhero. I’m not. But it’s impossible to ignore the parallels between Peter Parker’s career as Spiderman and my career as a Jaycee.
Peter Parker didn’t set out to be a hero. His big goal at the start of the first movie was to be accepted by his peers and perhaps get up the nerve to talk to the proverbial girl next door, Mary Jane Watson. A short time later he was bitten by a spider and gained the powers that made him Spiderman.
I’ve never been all that comfortable talking with large groups of people. It used to be that if you put me in a social setting – even one where I knew everyone present – you wouldn’t find me socializing The odds were that within ten minutes I’d be the one “holding up the wall.” Ten minutes after that I’d be looking for an excuse to leave. And once I did leave, I’d wind up kicking myself for not doing a better job of socializing. To say I was lacking in self-confidence would be an understatement. But then, just like Peter Parker, a bug bit me too. But this time around it wasn’t a spider; in my case it was the Jaycee bug.
One of the things that makes Spiderman such an appealing hero is that he’s not perfect. Peter blames himself for not stopping the crook that went on to kill his uncle. As a result, he’s afraid to let anyone get close to him for fear that they’ll also be hurt. And as much as he loves being Spiderman, Peter isn’t certain he’s the right man for the job. It would be a lot easier to let the police or the National Guard deal with the bad guys.
Some Jaycee projects can be really scary. Bringing the circus to town. Running a funnel cake booth. If you’re shy and don’t know many of the people in your chapter, even chairing the Restaurant of the Month can be daunting. And that’s just the projects. Stepping up to run for a chapter office or running a state program can take you even further out of your comfort zone. There’ve been a few times when it would have easier for me to walk away and let someone else run a project.
But Peter Parker and I have something else in common. We have the support of our friends (most of whom haven’t figured out our secret identities). People who have confidence in our ability to do what needs to be done and who will forgive us when we make mistakes. Peter’s friends let him see that even when things seemed their most bleak, there were still people who needed him. They gave him the confidence to step up and be a hero. And my friends gave me the confidence to try new things. The confidence to chair some awfully big projects. The confidence to run for chapter office. The confidence to step away from the wall and be a leader.
There’s another uplifting line in that song:
“I hold on to the wings of the eagle. Watch as we all fly away.”