Good afternoon everyone. On behalf of all the graduating students, I would like to welcome everyone to PHCC's 2010 Graduation ceremony. I would like to thank our president, the board of trustees, the administration, professors and college staff, all the students, their families and in particular my wife and 3 children for making today possible.
To the graduates today, three words: WE MADE IT! . A positive outlook on life and its adventures and keeping a smile on my face are what made my education enjoyable. Meeting so many wonderful students, professors and administrators helped me realize we are all in this together .
In 2006, when the real estate market, my business at that time, was literally taken away from me by the housing crisis, I found myself wondering what a 51 year old could do for his next act. After pondering this question for a few weeks, I found a quote that inspired me. This quote is from Harvard university professor and sociologist Sara Lawrence- Lightfoot from the book titled : The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk and Adventure in the 25 years after 50". The quote is "We must develop a compelling vision of later life: one that does not assume a trajectory of decline after fifty, but one that recognizes it as a time of change, of growth and new learning, a time when courage gives us new hope".
After reading that quote, I decided to check out the local community college, PHCC to see what they had to offer.
What a momentous decision that turned out to be.
At the time, I was scared that I was too old and too dumb and how was I ever going to fit in with Gen X. A quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson summed up what I needed to do. That quote is " Do the things you fear and the death of fear is certain". As it turned out, I wasn't too old even though I consider myself the grampa of my classes, I wasn't too dumb as my brain still worked just fine, and after involving myself with student government, DECA and the Nightingales in addition to on and off campus activities and my class work, I was relieved to find that I fit in just fine.
Personal reinvention and perserverence are two attributes that helped me make it and those two attributes became the building blocks of what I hoped to accomplish.
We all reinvent ourselves throughout life.
We go from being a self centered toddler to a person who shares.
We go from a child who relies on adults to a self sufficient person.
Many will reinvent themselves from the teenage years into responsible adults
Many of us go from being single to being involved in a relationship.
And some of us go from a relationship to being single again.
.
I reinvented myself first as a student. As I got reacquainted with academia, I became excited with learning so many new things and meeting so many new friends. I decided to go into the Nursing program using my past in insurance sales and hospital volunteering to reinvent my career goals. I joined in with campus activities to broaden and reinvent my social scene.
This personal reinvention was made possible because of perseverance.
3 and ½ years seemed like an eternity at the start since I had to take all the prerequisites and maintain a high GPA to qualify for the RN program.
Little by little, semester by semester, I knocked out the prerequisites and was overjoyed when I was admitted into the nursing program. Then the seemingly endless procession of reading, lecture, clinical time and testing took over. It was all I could do to keep up. But my blood type reminds me what to do. My blood type you see is B-Positive! So even when things looked bleak, I kept at it, persevering till the end . The result? Today, Graduation day.
Summing up, I believe it is never too late for anything, that whatever the mind can conceive and believe in will bring positive results.
As a marketing genius at Nike once said "Just do it".
When faced with an obstacle, go around it, go over it or go under it.
But never let it stop you.
Never doubt yourself.
Be persistent.
Go forth and set your sites high.
Always remember, EVERYTHING is within your grasp if you really want it.
We are all powerful individuals and with the right amount of perserverence and personal reinvention, we can all be who we want to be and reach the stars. Really, the sky IS the limit!
As they say in Jamaica, " be tinkin' in de positive Mon".
I wish everyone success in their future endeavors.
Thank you........................
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Eric Graduation Speechby fakeunclesam1,056 views
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