Convocation Address
Fall 2009
Theodore R. Zern
Dean of Freshman and Transfer Students
Good afternoon! My time here today is one which I indeed treasure, for no other reason than to offer to first year students a few words which I hope will capture your imagination and leave you with a sense of anticipation of what lies ahead in the coming weeks and months.
Let me first welcome you to the beginning of the rest of your life. Indeed this is an exciting time. It is a time of challenge, it is a time of dreaming, it is a time of reflection, and it is a time of determination and wonder. Most of all, it is a time of transition into a world of unknown possibilities and a journey of personal discovery.
When I last talked to many of you at SOAR, I urged you to remember your past, envision your future and be attentive to how you want to be remembered. Indeed these concepts were the very theme of your initial steps toward your future when you last on the campus.
Perhaps you recall (or not) the words of Winston Churchill when he said, “history will be kind to me, as I intend to write it.” As you sit here today, I challenge you to open your notebook and begin to record a history that is largely crafted by the choices that you will face, today, tomorrow and each day thereafter. Each choice you make will contribute to the written record of your life; the consequences of those choices will constitute your legacy.
For most of you gathered under the banner of the Class of 2013, this marks your first year in college, each of you bringing with you a unique portfolio of experiences and talents that have defined you to this point in your life. What you all share in common, however, is the participation in assemblies not too dissimilar to this one when you last wore academic regalia and completed what seemed like the most important milestone in your educational career. Whether you graduated in classes of 30 or 300, I suspect that many of you heard the words coined by Theodor Geisel, otherwise known as Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the places you will go”. Well, here you are in one of those places, a place that stands beyond the boundaries of your past and forms the horizon of your future. I challenge you, therefore, to not only value the person you are but also look forward to the person you still wish to become. When you craft your own personal success plan with your peer advisor later in the semester, I challenge you to decide what you want your life to look like and make your dreams your goals. Confront the barriers that might hold you back from even daring to dream and make your actions consistent with your intentions.
Go back with me for a moment to summer orientation when I asked a number of you gathered here today to publicly declare your intentions for your first year of college. At that time, I asked you to stand and with all due enthusiasm declare your commitment to your future. Recall these statements:
1) I will succeed (if you made that statement, please stand)
2) I will be on Dean’s list (stand)
3) I will graduate in four years (stand)
4) I have an attitude (of accomplishment) (stand)
Now for the rest of you, look inward and if any of you have any of these same intentions, please stand and accept our support…… (wait for applause)
Western New England College is, first and foremost, an academic community, a community of scholars where the juxtaposition of ideas and scholarly discourse form the hallmarks of its identity. It is a place where the unique interplay of ideas and ideals shape the person you are waiting to become. It is a place where the rich tradition of higher education is represented by the caps and gowns you wear today. It is a community where faculties love to teach but is also a place where learning stands as the core of its purpose. It is a place of hard work, where learning occurs not just in but outside the classroom and it is a place where lifetime commitments are made. I challenge you, therefore, to value the resources of this place so that your confidence grows, your competence is identified and your character is confirmed.
As a first year student, you are, I suspect, looking around and reveling in the expectations of personal choice and thinking: I can do what I want, when I want, if I want, and with whom I want. You have looked forward to gathering in a place that you have been told is a place of extraordinary freedom of choice. Indeed, it is. But I offer you caution: freedom is not free. Freedom carries the price of responsibility, of commitment, of obligation, of sweat and toil. With each choice you make, I want you to consider that your first year is forever. This is not a time of do over’s. While mistakes can be made and some can be remedied, your first year carries lasting consequences. Yes, this sense of finality can be intimidating and while some of your ensuing choices may involve venturing into unknown territory, you will not discover what you are capable of achieving if you worry about failure or missed chances. In his book, The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch reminds us that we only have a finite amount of time in our life. It is up to us to decide how we want to use it. So, your first year is not about testing the water or getting ready for the remaining three years of college. It is now, it is real and it cannot be repeated. You are about to enter a world where you will discover unknown talents. Your character and confidence will be tested. There will be times of fear; there will be times of frustration. I challenge you therefore to have the courage to ask for help from a genuine cadre of caring faculty, staff and students who share this community with you. Care enough to confront what is a barrier to your dreams and follow your passion wherever it may lead you. I challenge you, as Pausch again reflects, to dare to fail spectacularly than to revel in mediocrity. You will never know what you can achieve without the lessons that come from failure. If you hit that brick wall, know that walls are not meant to keep us out but to test the passionate pursuit of our capacity to succeed.
The students of Alpha Lambda Delta who have been honored here today sat not so long ago where you are sitting. I would be remiss if I did not salute them. They appear here before you now, having faced all the same choices that you will face and I am sure many of those choices were not always easy. I am sure that the choice that most of you had to make to finish the summer reading assignment so that you are prepared for the first day of class was not automatic. We want you to succeed but you must want to do what it takes to arrive at that same destination. You need to decide, as Pausch extols his students, whether you want to be a Tigger or an Eyore.
One of the wonderful things about this day is that it marks a redefinition of the community known as Western New England College. By your presence and by your participation, you will help define the ever-changing character of this community. So, I challenge you to make your daily decisions, always guided by a thoughtful vision of what you want your life to look like. This search will require that you think before you act and plan before you do. It will require passion, commitment, and determination. It will require that you live with purpose and reflection. It will require that you laugh and recognize that life is to be enjoyed, not feared. It will require that you care about yourself and those who share this place with you. It will require you to be truthful even when the truth does not reflect positively on you. It obliges you to give back to the very community you join today, all in the spirit of thankfulness for the opportunities you enjoy. It will require that you accept and embrace change as a gift and recognize you will not be the same person tomorrow as you are today. It will require that you recognize that to be successful, you need to be a participant both in class and out of class, on the athletic field and in a meeting room, in the relationship with your peers and in fostering connections with mentors and faculty, all the while developing your capacity to think beyond the boundaries of known information.
As you go forward from this assembly today, take with you the vision and spirit of excellence represented by the students we have honored today. I also want you to cherish what you will later receive from your peer advisor, the very cap you will wear at your commencement four years from now. You will likewise receive a pin that represents the spirit of achievement that characterizes Western New England College. Affix that pin to the cap and hang both in plain view as a constant reminder of your future when you are welcomed to the alumni association.
I wish you well; I wish you good fortune and I wish you much happiness. Finally, what I most wish for you is a legacy that when you look back on it four years from now, you will get to enjoy it a second time. Thank you very much for being at Western New England College.