[Laughter]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
Belford bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum
bum bum be-dum
[Music]
[Applause]
my name is Nick Friedman I’m a twenty
year old college dropout and I decided
to beatbox now I started beatboxing when
I was fifteen I wasn’t supposed to
beatbox but then again who really is
supposed to make weird sounds with their
mouths ranging from drums to chickens
while dancing around obnoxiously in
these shoes I was supposed to be
practicing piano for four years so that
I got really really good at it so that I
could get into Yale
be a part of their orchestra for a year
and then finally quit doing something I
hated so much man did I hate piano but
it was my ticket to college I mean I was
good at it I’ve been doing it since I
was eight everyone from my mom to to my
teachers told me that I couldn’t be
well-rounded if I wanted to get into
Yale they wanted someone who was really
good at one thing
besides academics so I had a decision to
make dude I knew I could get the test
scores and I knew I could get the grades
but do I push through and make my life
revolve around piano for the next four
years or do I risk not getting into Yale
and actually enjoy high school after
about a month of practicing piano and
playing the same song over and over and
over again because I kept getting a 99.5
instead of a hundred I realized it was
gonna be a really long four years to say
the least so I said to myself look it’s
only freshman year you have plenty of
time you can do this later
turns out I never came back to piano and
it turned out that that was the best
decision that I ever made after my
departure from piano I decided to switch
the instrument that I’d always wanted to
play since I was a kid
drums I remember one Saturday morning at
breakfast I went downstairs and asked my
mom mom can I have a drum set seriously
son I gave her the mom don’t do it look
are you serious on the drums of all the
instruments you picked you picked the
drums the drums
basically the tuba it’s basically like
taking a tuba and playing it in my ear I
didn’t hear the rest
like any 15-year old boy going through
puberty I ran to my room and slam my
door so loud that it caused a scene by
reverberating across the entire house
and in a moment marked by extreme
logical thought I realized that I could
get the individual pieces of the drumset
through my second story window hide them
in my closet and then assemble the drum
set in play when my mom wasn’t home
foolproof right however it was in my
rage that I found beatboxing I was
looking for a snare drum on the internet
and I found this link that said human
drums I was interested so I clicked it
and sure enough there was a guy there
beatboxing and I was in awe I mean how
was he making those sounds I wanted to
make those sounds so it began for the
next 8 hours I kept doing instructional
videos and trying to figure out how to
do it and I went from I mean I was
getting pretty good at it and I was so
excited it was so fun it was so
satisfying it was like when you when you
beat candy crush after 3 weeks of being
stuck on the same level and trying not
to do any in-app purchases it was
amazing and I ran downstairs and I told
my mom mom I want to learn how to
beatbox how are you gonna learn how to
beatbox son
her jaw dropped as did mine because it
was in that moment that I realized two
very important things the first was that
that was the best and only comeback I
will ever have against my mom in my
entire life but the second and perhaps
more important and maybe not more
important I realized that I could do
anything I didn’t have to play the piano
anymore I could do anything if I just
found beatboxing randomly on the
Internet so when I was 15 not only did I
beat box but I to act dance sing and
swim just like I did in middle school I
was in the Chess Club the math team I
helped start a club called the Guinness
World Records Club where we meet every
week and break World Records I didn’t
care what it was it was fun I was taking
classes on subjects that I had never
done my school didn’t offer just because
I was interested in them I mean I was
playing the marimba and the harmonica
for fun and I met a professional mini
golfer and started to go to official
mini golf tournaments every week because
why not
well I guess I found out why not because
come senior year when I opened my my
computer and saw my rejection letter
from Yale I was crushed I mean I thought
that Yale would take me not because I
was valedictorian or had good SAT scores
but because I was doing well and I was
having so much fun but I guess I was
wrong
I’m not sure if the reason why I didn’t
get into Yale or any Ivy League schools
is directly related to the fact that I
did so much in high school but that’s
besides the point I ended up choosing
Williams College which is a small
liberal arts school in the northwest
corner of Massachusetts turned out to be
number one on Forbes the year I went
above Yale but I didn’t care I wasn’t
excited
it wasn’t Yale I mean being from the
south no one even knew what Williams was
I tell people I’m going to Williams and
they said you don’t mean Williams you
mean Williams and Mary like I didn’t
know where I was going to school like I
was wrong some people thought I was
going to Williams in Sonoma which is a
cookware company but the summer before I
went to college it all changed I got a
call from a number I’d never seen before
hello dude yo dude what’s up man
summer been good man how’s your summer
been it’s been great – just getting
ready for the semester just I realized
in that moment that the guy in the other
line was not some super chill 18 year
old surfer dude he was my advisor that
I’d been assigned two weeks earlier
professor David Oz professor David OSH
told me something in that conversation
that stuck with me to this day and
really resonated with me he said you
could be the best sociologist in the
world but you never know if you don’t
take a sociology class he told me to
take classes that I’ve never been
exposed to to start college I realized
that that philosophy was my life I mean
turns out I’m a terrible sociologist but
what sociology is to some beatboxing
mini-golf and acting are to me I took
professor David AUSA’s advice to harden
and it sort of changed my perspective I
realized that Williams was the right fit
for me it was where I belong I mean I
didn’t get in I didn’t get into Yale or
any the Ivy League schools that I
applied to because I wasn’t right for
them wasn’t my fault and it wasn’t their
fault and going into college worrying
about the experience and not about the
name made it so much more rewarding I
really really really took professor
David else’s advice to heart
especially my freshman year it taken
taking an Asian art history class why
not having my own beatboxing show why
not being a nude model for an art class
why not going to Montreal and winning
thousands of dollars by exploring a
biased roulette wheel with my best
friends why not there’s a period of time
that Williams called winner study it’s a
time in January where everyone takes one
class and one day after my class which
was naturally on street performing I
decided to plan a trip to Montreal with
my friends we knew there was a casino
there and we had this grand idea this
grand vision that we were gonna beat the
casino famous last words
but we were determined I mean we’d stay
up until 3:00 a.m. with felt craps
tables and decks of cards and roulette
wheel
on our phones trying to figure out a way
to come on come out on top and we came
up with this strategy with designated
betters and trackers and even a
designated drinker who would distract
everyone from what we’re doing we felt
like we were in a movie it was
incredible
we ended up winning thousands of dollars
and the next night we spent it on the
most amazing dinner of our young lives
after roulette a few of my friends and I
realized that if we could apply our team
dynamic to doing something like that why
don’t we why don’t we shoot bigger he
wanted to change an industry and that’s
how we found real estate my friends and
I realized that we could work together
and we started that summer and we pushed
forward and tried to create a successful
business we had so many iterations and
iterations of our business plan and by
the end of our sophomore year I mean we
were ready we were ready to get funded
we had a team we had we had tech we had
everything that we needed to do it but
there was one question do I stay in
school and continue to do something that
I’m so comfortable doing like I was
suppose to do or do I drop out and leave
all that behind now you can see from my
life that I am what people define as a
creative person I’ve done creative
things I’ve taken creative risks but
really what is this creative person I
mean by a show of hands actually that’s
boring stand up and dab if you define
yourself as a creative person thank you
now I’m here to tell you that every
single one of you even if you don’t know
what dabbing is and even if you didn’t
do it as intensely as this guy right
here should have stood up because being
a creative person is not about making
cool hipster artwork or finding a more
efficient way to solve a roulette system
or or even beatboxing being creative is
about doing one thing differently than
you would otherwise normally do
challenge the way that you go about
every day
I mean creativity shouldn’t be some
lofty unattainable goal that can only be
reached by the kendrick lamar’s and
steve jobs of the world start by being
creative uniquely within your own sphere
before trying to be creative compared to
others let me give you an example I mean
it could be as simple as bringing a ham
sandwich to lunch and set a peanut
butter and jelly or maybe you do
something insane maybe you do something
crazy and you bring jambalaya at a lunch
because you’ve never had jambalaya in
your entire life
and I know this sounds ridiculous but
that jambalaya could change your life
because because you can go to the
microwave now since you have to heat up
your food you meet someone there who
introduces you to your best friend to
your significant other
to your business partner if you do the
same thing every day if you follow a
routine you close yourself off to the
millions of things up out there and
there’s so many relationships that are
just waiting to be formed now once you
choose to go on this creative path you
can’t stop there right if I started
beatboxing sure it’s creative but if I
don’t make any new sounds if I don’t
change up my style my personal
creativity level is zero being creative
is growing is changing and you shouldn’t
be afraid because because creative
people are not afraid they don’t make
excuses I mean this guy wasn’t afraid to
stand up and dab 14 times you shouldn’t
be afraid people tell me all the time oh
you know III don’t have time to be
creative I’m not a creative person
but but what does that mean I mean if
you’ve been doing the same thing for 15
years of your life and there are a
billion other things out there why not
try something different why not try and
avoid that that midlife crisis that so
many people go through because they do
one thing is it because you’re scared is
it because it’s easier doing the things
that the way they are I mean even if
you’re happy doing one thing now why not
try and do something else maybe there’s
more to life than your current job
hobbies or even lunches don’t be afraid
to take that sociology class because
otherwise you’ll never know every day
should be a new experience and every day
should be unexpected and that’s how you
be creative my life took a crazy turn I
went I went to college and I worked so
hard to get into this amazing school and
then I threw it all away to drop out of
college and pursue another dream of mine
but the best part is that I have no
regrets taking a life choice that
society may not approve of I’m here to
tell you that education can be found
anywhere not just in the classroom I’m
not telling you guys to drop out of
college but I’m telling you that there’s
no right way to do life I mean don’t do
what your friend’s doing if it’s not you
don’t listen to the article that says
these are the 10 steps you need to take
in order to be successful because
everyone’s version of success is
different yours might be to go to
college and get a job while someone
else’s might be to be a bartender on the
beach it’s up to you not someone else
ever since I was 15 I decided to push
against whether people in my high school
we’re doing and become an individual
creativity surrounds all aspects of my
life from the way I beatbox to the way I
approach problems with my team I
encourage you to take risks like the
ones that I’ve taken because life is
short I love life but man I’m 20 years
old a fifth of my life is over so why
not try and live the life that you want
to live not the life that someone else
is telling you to live it’s not too late
and there’s always a way so when faced
with my biggest decision yet do I stay
in school and continue to get my degree
and get a job or do I drop out and
pursue a dream of mine of starting my
own company rather than do what I was
supposed to do rather than play the
piano
I decided to beatbox and I hope you do
too
thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
Belford bum bum be-dum bum bum be-dum
bum bum be-dum
[Music]
[Applause]
my name is Nick Friedman I’m a twenty
year old college dropout and I decided
to beatbox now I started beatboxing when
I was fifteen I wasn’t supposed to
beatbox but then again who really is
supposed to make weird sounds with their
mouths ranging from drums to chickens
while dancing around obnoxiously in
these shoes I was supposed to be
practicing piano for four years so that
I got really really good at it so that I
could get into Yale
be a part of their orchestra for a year
and then finally quit doing something I
hated so much man did I hate piano but
it was my ticket to college I mean I was
good at it I’ve been doing it since I
was eight everyone from my mom to to my
teachers told me that I couldn’t be
well-rounded if I wanted to get into
Yale they wanted someone who was really
good at one thing
besides academics so I had a decision to
make dude I knew I could get the test
scores and I knew I could get the grades
but do I push through and make my life
revolve around piano for the next four
years or do I risk not getting into Yale
and actually enjoy high school after
about a month of practicing piano and
playing the same song over and over and
over again because I kept getting a 99.5
instead of a hundred I realized it was
gonna be a really long four years to say
the least so I said to myself look it’s
only freshman year you have plenty of
time you can do this later
turns out I never came back to piano and
it turned out that that was the best
decision that I ever made after my
departure from piano I decided to switch
the instrument that I’d always wanted to
play since I was a kid
drums I remember one Saturday morning at
breakfast I went downstairs and asked my
mom mom can I have a drum set seriously
son I gave her the mom don’t do it look
are you serious on the drums of all the
instruments you picked you picked the
drums the drums
basically the tuba it’s basically like
taking a tuba and playing it in my ear I
didn’t hear the rest
like any 15-year old boy going through
puberty I ran to my room and slam my
door so loud that it caused a scene by
reverberating across the entire house
and in a moment marked by extreme
logical thought I realized that I could
get the individual pieces of the drumset
through my second story window hide them
in my closet and then assemble the drum
set in play when my mom wasn’t home
foolproof right however it was in my
rage that I found beatboxing I was
looking for a snare drum on the internet
and I found this link that said human
drums I was interested so I clicked it
and sure enough there was a guy there
beatboxing and I was in awe I mean how
was he making those sounds I wanted to
make those sounds so it began for the
next 8 hours I kept doing instructional
videos and trying to figure out how to
do it and I went from I mean I was
getting pretty good at it and I was so
excited it was so fun it was so
satisfying it was like when you when you
beat candy crush after 3 weeks of being
stuck on the same level and trying not
to do any in-app purchases it was
amazing and I ran downstairs and I told
my mom mom I want to learn how to
beatbox how are you gonna learn how to
beatbox son
her jaw dropped as did mine because it
was in that moment that I realized two
very important things the first was that
that was the best and only comeback I
will ever have against my mom in my
entire life but the second and perhaps
more important and maybe not more
important I realized that I could do
anything I didn’t have to play the piano
anymore I could do anything if I just
found beatboxing randomly on the
Internet so when I was 15 not only did I
beat box but I to act dance sing and
swim just like I did in middle school I
was in the Chess Club the math team I
helped start a club called the Guinness
World Records Club where we meet every
week and break World Records I didn’t
care what it was it was fun I was taking
classes on subjects that I had never
done my school didn’t offer just because
I was interested in them I mean I was
playing the marimba and the harmonica
for fun and I met a professional mini
golfer and started to go to official
mini golf tournaments every week because
why not
well I guess I found out why not because
come senior year when I opened my my
computer and saw my rejection letter
from Yale I was crushed I mean I thought
that Yale would take me not because I
was valedictorian or had good SAT scores
but because I was doing well and I was
having so much fun but I guess I was
wrong
I’m not sure if the reason why I didn’t
get into Yale or any Ivy League schools
is directly related to the fact that I
did so much in high school but that’s
besides the point I ended up choosing
Williams College which is a small
liberal arts school in the northwest
corner of Massachusetts turned out to be
number one on Forbes the year I went
above Yale but I didn’t care I wasn’t
excited
it wasn’t Yale I mean being from the
south no one even knew what Williams was
I tell people I’m going to Williams and
they said you don’t mean Williams you
mean Williams and Mary like I didn’t
know where I was going to school like I
was wrong some people thought I was
going to Williams in Sonoma which is a
cookware company but the summer before I
went to college it all changed I got a
call from a number I’d never seen before
hello dude yo dude what’s up man
summer been good man how’s your summer
been it’s been great – just getting
ready for the semester just I realized
in that moment that the guy in the other
line was not some super chill 18 year
old surfer dude he was my advisor that
I’d been assigned two weeks earlier
professor David Oz professor David OSH
told me something in that conversation
that stuck with me to this day and
really resonated with me he said you
could be the best sociologist in the
world but you never know if you don’t
take a sociology class he told me to
take classes that I’ve never been
exposed to to start college I realized
that that philosophy was my life I mean
turns out I’m a terrible sociologist but
what sociology is to some beatboxing
mini-golf and acting are to me I took
professor David AUSA’s advice to harden
and it sort of changed my perspective I
realized that Williams was the right fit
for me it was where I belong I mean I
didn’t get in I didn’t get into Yale or
any the Ivy League schools that I
applied to because I wasn’t right for
them wasn’t my fault and it wasn’t their
fault and going into college worrying
about the experience and not about the
name made it so much more rewarding I
really really really took professor
David else’s advice to heart
especially my freshman year it taken
taking an Asian art history class why
not having my own beatboxing show why
not being a nude model for an art class
why not going to Montreal and winning
thousands of dollars by exploring a
biased roulette wheel with my best
friends why not there’s a period of time
that Williams called winner study it’s a
time in January where everyone takes one
class and one day after my class which
was naturally on street performing I
decided to plan a trip to Montreal with
my friends we knew there was a casino
there and we had this grand idea this
grand vision that we were gonna beat the
casino famous last words
but we were determined I mean we’d stay
up until 3:00 a.m. with felt craps
tables and decks of cards and roulette
wheel
on our phones trying to figure out a way
to come on come out on top and we came
up with this strategy with designated
betters and trackers and even a
designated drinker who would distract
everyone from what we’re doing we felt
like we were in a movie it was
incredible
we ended up winning thousands of dollars
and the next night we spent it on the
most amazing dinner of our young lives
after roulette a few of my friends and I
realized that if we could apply our team
dynamic to doing something like that why
don’t we why don’t we shoot bigger he
wanted to change an industry and that’s
how we found real estate my friends and
I realized that we could work together
and we started that summer and we pushed
forward and tried to create a successful
business we had so many iterations and
iterations of our business plan and by
the end of our sophomore year I mean we
were ready we were ready to get funded
we had a team we had we had tech we had
everything that we needed to do it but
there was one question do I stay in
school and continue to do something that
I’m so comfortable doing like I was
suppose to do or do I drop out and leave
all that behind now you can see from my
life that I am what people define as a
creative person I’ve done creative
things I’ve taken creative risks but
really what is this creative person I
mean by a show of hands actually that’s
boring stand up and dab if you define
yourself as a creative person thank you
now I’m here to tell you that every
single one of you even if you don’t know
what dabbing is and even if you didn’t
do it as intensely as this guy right
here should have stood up because being
a creative person is not about making
cool hipster artwork or finding a more
efficient way to solve a roulette system
or or even beatboxing being creative is
about doing one thing differently than
you would otherwise normally do
challenge the way that you go about
every day
I mean creativity shouldn’t be some
lofty unattainable goal that can only be
reached by the kendrick lamar’s and
steve jobs of the world start by being
creative uniquely within your own sphere
before trying to be creative compared to
others let me give you an example I mean
it could be as simple as bringing a ham
sandwich to lunch and set a peanut
butter and jelly or maybe you do
something insane maybe you do something
crazy and you bring jambalaya at a lunch
because you’ve never had jambalaya in
your entire life
and I know this sounds ridiculous but
that jambalaya could change your life
because because you can go to the
microwave now since you have to heat up
your food you meet someone there who
introduces you to your best friend to
your significant other
to your business partner if you do the
same thing every day if you follow a
routine you close yourself off to the
millions of things up out there and
there’s so many relationships that are
just waiting to be formed now once you
choose to go on this creative path you
can’t stop there right if I started
beatboxing sure it’s creative but if I
don’t make any new sounds if I don’t
change up my style my personal
creativity level is zero being creative
is growing is changing and you shouldn’t
be afraid because because creative
people are not afraid they don’t make
excuses I mean this guy wasn’t afraid to
stand up and dab 14 times you shouldn’t
be afraid people tell me all the time oh
you know III don’t have time to be
creative I’m not a creative person
but but what does that mean I mean if
you’ve been doing the same thing for 15
years of your life and there are a
billion other things out there why not
try something different why not try and
avoid that that midlife crisis that so
many people go through because they do
one thing is it because you’re scared is
it because it’s easier doing the things
that the way they are I mean even if
you’re happy doing one thing now why not
try and do something else maybe there’s
more to life than your current job
hobbies or even lunches don’t be afraid
to take that sociology class because
otherwise you’ll never know every day
should be a new experience and every day
should be unexpected and that’s how you
be creative my life took a crazy turn I
went I went to college and I worked so
hard to get into this amazing school and
then I threw it all away to drop out of
college and pursue another dream of mine
but the best part is that I have no
regrets taking a life choice that
society may not approve of I’m here to
tell you that education can be found
anywhere not just in the classroom I’m
not telling you guys to drop out of
college but I’m telling you that there’s
no right way to do life I mean don’t do
what your friend’s doing if it’s not you
don’t listen to the article that says
these are the 10 steps you need to take
in order to be successful because
everyone’s version of success is
different yours might be to go to
college and get a job while someone
else’s might be to be a bartender on the
beach it’s up to you not someone else
ever since I was 15 I decided to push
against whether people in my high school
we’re doing and become an individual
creativity surrounds all aspects of my
life from the way I beatbox to the way I
approach problems with my team I
encourage you to take risks like the
ones that I’ve taken because life is
short I love life but man I’m 20 years
old a fifth of my life is over so why
not try and live the life that you want
to live not the life that someone else
is telling you to live it’s not too late
and there’s always a way so when faced
with my biggest decision yet do I stay
in school and continue to get my degree
and get a job or do I drop out and
pursue a dream of mine of starting my
own company rather than do what I was
supposed to do rather than play the
piano
I decided to beatbox and I hope you do
too
thank you
[Applause]
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