Believe it or not, the Georgia Tech student whose “epic” speech made him a viral YouTube star this week considered himself sort of shy when he first got to campus last year.
“I came here without any friends,” said Nicholas Selby, a 19-year-old sophomore from Phoenix. “I was kind of nervous. I’m a socially awkward guy. I was nervous about being able to make friends and fit in here. Georgia Tech took all of my fears and eliminated them.”
Indeed. His resounding speech to incoming freshmen has logged more than 1.5 million online views since being posted on Monday and reposted several times since then.
“Fox News just had me on,” he said during a quick Thursday evening interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “That was a lot of fun.”
He’s been featured by a number of other outlets including CNN, Salon, The Huffington Post and Rolling Stone.
“I’m enjoying my 15 minutes,” he said.
At Georgia Tech, the speech is an annual tradition, and to be selected as speaker, Selby first had to submit an essay followed by a video audition.
At Desert Vista High School in his hometown, Selby was active in the robotics team and the speech/debate club. His impassioned welcome to fellow Yellow Jackets reflected both his love of gadgets and his knack for public speaking. After being notified about a month ago that he would be Georgia Tech’s designated speaker, he started preparing.
“I did speech and debate in high school, and I learned that practice is the only way to be great,” he said.
Throughout his address, which lasted about seven minutes, Selby appears poised and self-assured, speaking confidently and without notes. At first he doles out some fairly boilerplate advice (call your mom, do laundry, sit up front in class, get plenty of rest, travel and join clubs). Things crank up about five minutes in, when the theme to “2001” starts playing and he starts shouting.
“Georgia Tech is proud of its many traditions, but the one I find most exciting is our tradition of excellence. Our mission as students is not to follow in the footsteps of the astronauts, Nobel prize laureates and presidents who graduated before us but to exceed their footsteps, crush the shoulders of the giants upon whom we stand … I am telling you, if you want to change the world, you’re at Georgia Tech. You can do that!”
A mechanical engineering student, Selby said he’s always wanted to be an inventor. A couple of times during his speech, he declares he wants to build the “Iron Man” suit, a high-tech personal flying machine worn by actor Robert Downey Jr.’s character in the “Iron Man” movies.
“Absolutely,” he said when we asked if that’s a go. “I understand the science behind ‘Iron Man’ has not quite caught up to the artistic expectation, but if I can be part of making an ‘Iron Man’ suit, that would be pretty legit.”
In addition to the media attention and other speaking requests he’s received since his remarkable remarks, Selby said he’s been the recipient of at least one love letter. Sorry, ladies.
“I’ve got a girlfriend and have been in a very committed relationship for over a year,” he said. But if his words cause others to fall in love with science, he’d be all for that.
“Science is the method by which we determine truth in the world,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like it’s underrated.”
So far he’s off to a great year, and he says his awesome freshman-year experience revved him up for the speech he gave to those coming behind him. But he couldn’t recall much about the speaker he heard from as a freshman.
“I feel really bad about saying this but no, I don’t,” he said. “The speaker was probably really good. There was a lot going on that day.”
Chances are the folks in his audience will have no trouble remembering Nicholas Selby.
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