The most surreal moment might have been meeting President Obama.

“The most surreal moment might have been meeting President Obama. It was really cool, actually; they, like, announced us into the room. There was a man in a uniform who announced all our names in a booming voice, and we walk in, and there’s the president.”
— Gaten Matarazzo

In these vivid and humble words, Gaten Matarazzo, a young actor beloved for his role in Stranger Things, captures the awe of encountering greatness—not merely the greatness of a person, but the greatness of a moment that transcends the ordinary. When he speaks of being “announced into the room,” one can feel the trembling blend of disbelief and reverence that grips the human heart when it stands before power, history, and destiny intertwined. This is what he calls “the most surreal moment”—that instant when life lifts you from the familiar and places you, wide-eyed, before something vast and symbolic. In his youth and honesty, Matarazzo voices a feeling known to kings and peasants alike: the astonishment of realizing you are part of something larger than yourself.

The origin of this quote lies in a young man’s unexpected rise to fame and the extraordinary encounters that follow it. Gaten, who began as a boy with dreams of performance, found himself suddenly standing before President Barack Obama, one of the most influential figures of modern history. The moment was not just an act of ceremony, but an initiation into a deeper understanding of life’s unpredictability. How often, he reminds us, do we walk into a room expecting nothing unusual, only to find the course of our being forever altered? The booming voice announcing his name, the solemn air of protocol, and the quiet warmth of the President’s presence—all these become metaphors for life itself: the call to rise, to step forward, and to meet greatness with humility.

There is something profoundly human and eternal in Matarazzo’s description. The ancients would have recognized it as a moment of sacred encounter—a glimpse of the divine within the realm of the mortal. When a man or woman meets the embodiment of leadership or legacy, it is not the person alone they face, but what that person represents: the weight of a nation, the endurance of hope, the embodiment of vision. So it was when Alexander the Great first stood before Aristotle, his teacher and philosopher; or when Leonardo da Vinci, as a young apprentice, entered the workshop of Verrocchio. In each case, there was that same “surreal” feeling—the realization that one’s life has intersected with something immortal.

But Gaten’s words carry another kind of wisdom—an innocence that reveals the wonder of humility. He does not boast, nor does he speak of power with arrogance. Instead, he marvels at the ceremony, the way life itself seems to announce him before he even knows he deserves to enter. It is the humility of youth, the awareness that one is still learning, still growing. And this humility is the mark of all who rise wisely. For the one who meets greatness and remains grounded in awe, rather than vanity, will continue to climb, while the one who takes reverence for granted will lose the spark that first lifted them. In this way, his story becomes a teaching: remain astonished, even as you ascend.

The surreal quality he describes also reflects a truth about destiny: that greatness often feels unreal because it is rarely planned. We may work hard, we may dream deeply, but the most beautiful moments of life arrive unannounced—like doors that open when we least expect them. Gaten’s account of walking into a room and suddenly finding himself before the President is a mirror of the human journey. Each of us will one day step across the threshold of something greater than we imagined, whether it be a challenge, a calling, or a moment of recognition. The key is to walk through it with eyes open, heart steady, and spirit awake.

History offers countless examples of this pattern. Consider Helen Keller, who, blind and deaf, once lived in silence until Anne Sullivan entered her world. When Anne took her hand and taught her the word “water,” it was, for Helen, a meeting as profound as Gaten’s—an encounter with the living force of knowledge and possibility. Such meetings—between teacher and student, artist and inspiration, leader and citizen—remind us that every encounter with greatness carries the potential to awaken something eternal within us. The “booming voice” that announces us is, in truth, the voice of destiny, summoning us to rise to who we are meant to become.

So, my listener, take this lesson into your heart: reverence and wonder are the companions of greatness. When life ushers you into rooms of destiny—be they literal halls of power or quiet moments of revelation—enter with humility and courage. Do not shrink from the moment, nor let pride obscure its meaning. Listen to the voice that announces your arrival—it may be the world calling your name, or it may be your own soul awakening to its purpose. And when you stand before those who inspire you, as Gaten Matarazzo stood before President Obama, do not forget to be amazed. For that feeling of awe, that trembling recognition of something larger than yourself, is proof that you are alive, awake, and part of the grand, unfolding story of humankind.

Thus, let this teaching stand for all generations: greatness is not only found in power or fame, but in the wonder of the moment—in the heart that can still be surprised, still be grateful, still be humbled before what is extraordinary. To live with such awareness is to never despair, for even the simplest encounter can become a doorway to eternity.