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Commencement Address Thank you Chancellor Peterson. I feel very honored to be here. I want to congratulate everyone graduating today. To those chemical engineers who had to take my thermodynamics course, don’t worry, I will only talk for 6 minutes, and I will not mention thermodynamics again. I will just make two points in that time. I want to encourage you to make your decisions so that you end up do something that you have a passion for, something that you are excited about. Then work hard; it will not seem like work. If you do, anything is possible. I was lucky enough to make a few critical decisions 34 years ago that allowed me to have a job I enjoy and am excited about. They involved turning down job offers and accepting lower paying jobs. I interviewed for jobs while in grad school, but only had one offer, and turned it down without knowing if I would get another job. It was just not the job I wanted, but it was a very hard decision. Six months later I started interviews again, and got 5 or 6 job offers, but again turned them down and took a postdoc position, at half the pay. After almost a year as a postdoc, I received an offer at CU, and took that instead of accepting a permanent position that would have paid at least 50% more. As a result, I have been lucky enough teach at the University of Colorado for almost 34 years. Sometimes on long bike rides my mind wanders and I think: suppose I won the $50 million Powerball lottery, what would I do with the money? Now the odds of me winning the lottery are rather low since I don’t buy lottery tickets. But I think during my ride, I would give money to my wife (I would be in big trouble if I did not say that), my family, the University of Colorado, to some charities etc. But then I start thinking about what equipment I would buy for my research lab, about people I would hire for my research etc. I don’t think about retiring to a house on the beach and relaxing. I hope you find something that you are passionate about, something that you would keep doing even if you win the lottery. When I say work hard, what I should say is work moderately hard. I had a calibration growing up of what hard work really is. My father dropped out of the 10th grade to help support his mother and his brother and sisters. For much of his adult life he woke up at 3:00 AM and left for work at 3:30 AM, and he returned home at 6:30 PM, 6 days a week. He sometimes worked a few hours on Sunday. I did not realize such hard work was not normal but it provided me a reference point and a motivation to go to college. I don’t think too many of you will have to work that hard. I wish you the best of luck as you leave University of Colorado. Thank you.
Commencement Address Good morning It's a great pleasure to be here this morning, thank you Senior Class Council for the great honor of asking me to share this day with you! It was 34 years ago that I sat on the lawn where you are …. Actually, I think …somewhere there in the back … we didn't have cell phones then, so I couldn't tell her which taped "hi mom” was me. I left here 34 years ago to some more schooling and a career selling stuff. I’m a retailer, retailers sell stuff. I have sold a lot of khaki pants, Mickey Mouse ears and satin bras in my career… one key to being a good retailer is understanding your customers … Having sold a pair of khakis, and maybe even a pair of mouse ears to more than one of you, I learned a little bit about your generation …
I love your generation, you give all of us great hope that the world will be in caring and capable hands. As you leave here with that self-confidence, that optimism, that bluntness, valuing education, and committed to have an impact…, I just ask you to consider … Self-confidence….use that self-confidence to be bold with your decisions.… whether you are a research scientist or a kindergarten teacher, be the very best research scientist or the best kindergarten teacher you can be … With that self-confidence, be daring…cram as many experiences as you can into this life. I don’t know how many of you saw the movie "Bucket List?” Well, don’t wait until you are 90 with a year left to live …it is not enough time! With that optimism…use that optimism to force the world to explore unimagined possibilities… the world you step into has a lot of problems, there are a lot of complex issues, without easy solutions. However, if you bring that optimism of yours to the negotiating table, to the courtroom, to the voting booth, then you can be change the world needs. Next… that bluntness of yours … I blame text messaging for this one … my generation begins a conversation with "hello, how are you? How is your day going?” Your generation cuts right to it with a 3-letter text … s.u.p. "sup” Yes, the bluntness… it may save time, but try to temper that bluntness with some good old fashioned human kindness. Be the person who smiles at others when you walk down the street, overtips the waitress and understands that someone who’s mean is likely coping with great distress. One more thing on that "bluntness.” Trust me on this one … don’t ever put in writing anything you wouldn’t want printed on the front page of the New York Times, don’t push the send button on an angry email until you have had a chance to ‘sleep’ on it, and before you post that really funny you-tube video, imagine it being shown to prospective employers and your children! By valuing education, I don’t mean those of you who decided 6 years was better than 4… nor is it your schooling, that we acknowledge today with your diploma. Your education is not complete, but just beginning. Abraham Lincoln once said "I don’t think much of a man who isn’t wiser today than he was yesterday” although Lincoln wasn’t a CU alum, the charge is there to become a life-long learner … take every opportunity to learn … a new language, a sport, a new culture … learn, really learn about China. Next.. Your desire to give back. Pursue, with strong conviction, your belief in the power of giving back to the world around us. Companies like Mcdonalds and Nike have robust corporate philanthropy programs, partly because such programs are important to its young work force. But it is also the difference we can each make as individuals. I have a friend, who at age 60 went to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, and upon finding out that the children of his guides were falling asleep in school from hunger, established a foundation that today supplies over 2 million hot lunches. Don’t allow yourself to be discouraged if the results of your efforts are not immediate… be confident that your time, your empathy and your convictions are making a difference. You want to make an impact, and we all want you to make an impact. Just remember that those on whom you will have the greatest impact will be those closest to you … your family, your future children, your friends and co-workers… Mark Twain said "let us live, so that when we die, even the undertaker will be sorry.” So, class of 2008. Thanks again for the honor of sharing this day with you … congratulations graduates. |
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