Prince George’s Community College
2008 Commencement Address
May 22, 2008
INTRO ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
You did it, grads! No one can take this away from you. The all-nighters; the last minute additions to that final presentation; the highlighted pages of books, outlines and notes. What you’ve done, in the years leading to today’s ceremony, took hard work, self-discipline and sacrifices.
So today is an important day for you to celebrate that hard work and self-discipline. Celebrate with your friends and families who, I’m certain, are as proud of your achievement (and deserve as much credit) as you.
You’ll look back on pictures of this day years from now and see younger faces smiling back, dressed in your caps and gowns. But always remember, when you look back, that today is only the beginning, one picture in a scrapbook that is ready to be filled with other memories and grander accomplishments.
President Dukes, faculty, staff, family and friends, distinguished guests, alumni, and The Class of 2008, thank you for the honor to share this special day with you –Prince George’s Community College’s 49th Commencement Ceremony. On behalf of Governor O’Malley, his family and mine let me say, “Congratulations!”
I remember my own Commencement. It was 1984 – the Orwellian Year. Ronald Reagan was running his second term as President of the United States. Banner headlines, every morning, told the story of the red hot Cold War. You couldn’t download music onto an MP3, but rather listened to it from a vinyl record. (Does anybody remember the 33-rpm, 12-inch?)
I started my freshmen year in college with a Brothers manual typewriter, cordless phones weren’t on the market (let alone cell phones or BlackBerries), and “emoticons” were still just punctuation marks.
And in 1984, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray and a 24-year-old shortstop named Cal Ripken, Jr. began the baseball season as the defending World Series Champions.
But here we are today, in 2008. Much has happened in the world during the past few years. We’re in the middle of an election that will elect the first African American president, the first woman president, or the first person over 70. Our nation is engaged in a new type of war – a “global war on terror” – that some have termed a clash of civilizations. Technology and innovation have become commonplace and cornerstones of our society. Our world is becoming flat as we experience the rise of the “global economy.” And in 2008, despite a strong start to the season and a standard of play that still exceeds anyone’s wildest expectations, the Orioles rest in 4th place in the AL East – a position, sadly, we’ve all become far too familiar with.
I can only imagine what the commencement speaker a quarter century from now will see.
ORDINARY BUT EXTRAORDINARY
On its surface, what you’ve accomplished leading to today is not entirely out of the ordinary. You took the same initiative as hundreds of thousands of others. You signed up for class. You sat through lectures, lessons, discussions. You did your homework and turned it in on time (at least most of the time, right?)… Just like every other person at this ceremony and hundreds of other graduation ceremonies taking place this month across the country.
On the surface, other people may just see yours as an ordinary path. But they might not realize the challenges you’ve overcome:
They don’t know the single mother juggling work, kids and a 3.8 GPA. They don’t know the young man who graduated from high school and went to straight work to support his parents, or his younger brothers and sisters while also enrolling in the honors program. They don’t know the 35-year-old Kenyan immigrant who came to America with her young family to pursue the American Dream that is realized on so many community college campuses.
While today may seem ordinary just on its surface, I urge you to see the extraordinary not just in your own achievement, but in the achievements of the student to your right and to your left. See the extraordinary in each ordinary person who shares this day with you. But most of all, I hope you find a way to hold on to the special sense of pride you have right now. Satisfaction with your achievements and your place in life is an important part of your journey ahead.
MAPPING YOUR OWN FUTURE, IDENTIFYING YOUR GOALS
By now you’ve heard from your professors, from your parents, your friends and you’ve probably even said it yourself: “Today marks the end of just one chapter and the start of another. This is, truly, a new beginning, a new opportunity to choose where you fit into this world and where this world fits into your life.”
It’s an opportunity for you to define or redefine your goals in life. To make this increasingly complex world easier to understand and manage. To find that which motivates you to act. An opportunity to reflect upon your purpose. To realize the daily steps you will make toward lasting progress and lasting change. And, unfortunately, it’s an opportunity that so many others have wasted.
Generation X, Y, the New Silent Generation, the Millennial Generation. They’re all labels that in and of themselves say very little, if anything at all, about who you are and what you are capable of doing. You’ll never be called the Greatest Generation, but only because we’ve already given that label away.
It was Dr. Martin Luther King who said: “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve…You don’t have to have a college degree to serve; You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve…You only need a heart full of grace … a soul generated by love”
You certainly have an opportunity to be as great as you possibly can. And this world needs greatness.
O’MALLEY/BROWN, COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND VALUES
Over the last 16 months, Governor O’Malley and I have become more and more passionate about community colleges. We’ve traveled all across this State in an effort to visit every community college campus in Maryland. We’ve met with students, faculty, presidents, and board members to better understand the needs, the visions and the challenges of community colleges.
And from our observations and conversations with all of you and with employers in every sector imaginable, we keep coming back to a simple observation: Community colleges are the lynchpin of our communities and the catalysts of our economy.
Community colleges provide each of you with to contribute greatly to our world.
THE EXPECTATIONS YOU INHERIT
Now, some of you will enter right into the workforce, prepared for unique opportunities offered at National Harbor, by the growing biotech corridor, by BRAC. Some of you will further your studies at the University of Maryland, at Towson or Bowie, or somewhere entirely different. Others, already well-established in your careers, will take your degree and accept greater professional responsibility. Others still will take the lessons from the campus back to your neighborhoods, back to your communities to empower a new generation of self-starters to make a better life for themselves.
But as you all part ways, the drafts of history are being written and the books that will depict today are calling upon you, as the inheritors of the world that we’ve both readied for you, albeit not to perfection, and readied you for.
We call upon you to turn your values into expectations – values that draw upon the lessons of the past, and expectations that will shape your behavior and the behavior of those around you.
Diversity
We value diversity. And therefore we should expect all of us to promote and celebrate all its forms. You are of a generation that understands that our world continues to be molded by the different backgrounds, customs, cultures and languages of a multi-cultural society. We will look to you to continue tearing down those manufactured divisions of race, gender, religion, nationality and sexual orientation. Advance that diversity, advance the belief that true progress requires people who see the riches offered by our differences.
Individuality
We value individuality. And therefore we should expect each of us to cherish and respect the dignity of every individual within our society. Just as a digital photo develops as millions of individual pixels come together into focus, forming a clear picture, our world is only clear when we embrace the individuality that rests within each of us and accept each individual as an essential part of the larger picture that we call community.
Work Ethic
We value hard work. And therefore we should expect each of us to champion a strong work ethic. Our world rewards hard work, and smart work — that’s been true for generations. It’s certainly a fundamental spirit and character of the American culture.
WHO ARE YOU?
Today, we’ve conferred upon you a degree but it’s up to you to reach into your heart for grace and to search your soul for love to serve your neighbors and those around you. And to remember that acts of selflessness, of service and the pursuit of the common good are not wholly divorced from our individual pursuits.
Adam Smith the great 18th century economist said, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, or the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but – rather – from their regard to their own interest. It is rare that he intends to promote the public interest, but even more rare when he knows how much he has.”
In this new economy, where ambition, hard work and creativity; where individualism and diversity are revered, your self-interest and the common good are not mutually exclusive pursuits.
But in those pursuits don’t ever allow who you are to be lost to what you do. Never let the definitions “teacher,” “student,” “nurse,” “plumber” “businessman,” “butcher,” “brewer” or “baker” erase the titles of “mother,” “father,” “brother,” “sister,” “neighbor” and “friend.”
Recognize your contribution, your own extraordinary action, the unique difference that only you can make. But also witness the benefit of your work through the eyes of others and be witness to the good works and extraordinary action of others.
REFRAMING THE GENERATIONAL QUESTION
Before I leave you to your families, your friends and your loved ones, let me put out this call to action. Every generation has its “where were you moment:” September 11; the Challenger explosion; the assassinations of Dr. King, Bobby and Jack Kennedy; Pearl Harbor.
But I think we’ve framed that question the wrong way. It’s framed in a manner that focuses on the past. It’s framed in a way that suggests we cannot change our world because it’s already changed us – and that may be true. We are undoubtedly shaped by our world.
But I believe if we change our frame of reference, if we ask a different question, we’ll be able to change our world as much as it may have changed us. So, I urge you to ask yourself: “Where will you be when we land on Mars?” “What will you do to close the achievement gap in public schools and end health disparities between whites and blacks?”
Because when you ask questions like that, your answers become tomorrow’s history.
In September 2004, I deployed to Iraq with 800 patriotic men and women. We went to Baghdad with big plans, to make a big difference, to be a part of history. Since my return from combat in 2005, I’ve been asked many times to describe my experience. And I keep returning to a lesson that holds true not just for my experience in Iraq, but also my experience as Lt. Governor, a father and a member of the proud Prince George’s community.
Perhaps Dr. Marian Wright Edelman articulated it best when she said:
“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”
CONCLUSION
Here’s one last piece of personal advice, so listen up: Life’s short, don’t forget to take time for yourself and for your family. Explore your interests. Learn to cook (or marry someone who can). Sing. In the shower. In your car. Or even in a Karaoke bar. Travel. Explore your past and imagine your future. Remember the American poet, Robert Frost. Think about the road not taken and take it.
Good luck to you, Class of 2008 and thank you for the giving me the honor of being with you today.