Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-23784953-20130809054750/@comment-4830106-20130810183927

74.243.228.42 wrote: In response to an earlier comment here, Ozpin doesn't really say, "You all suck more than you think and we'll show you that. After your time here you will be better but not awesome."

I think it's more along the lines of "You have to get out into the real world and get your hands dirty." (Figuratively speaking) Kind of like you have to try to swim to learn it and not just read about it.

He says that everyone gathered at Beacon has come here in search of knowledge, and that gathering this knowledge will free them from being devoid of purpose. But really knowledge will only go so far and you have to experience things firsthand to really decide who you are/want to be. That, or he knows most people come to Beacon with overly romanticized notions of what it is to be a Hunter, and the speech was meant as a wake-up call.