Graduates, Take Charge of Your Future

Congratulations graduates! After years of study you are ready to start a new chapter of your life.

No matter what you decide to do after graduation, change will be the common denominator in your life. How you handle change will determine how successful you will be in the future - both personally and professionally.

Become a calculated risk-taker. Calculated risk-takers learn to weigh the consequences of their decisions. They pick the option that is right for them while keeping their eye on the big picture. To be a calculated risk-taker means you have taken charge of your future. I challenge you to approach life as someone who embraces change.

Have the courage to change. It is one thing to recognize an opportunity in life. It is quite something else to take advantage of it. It takes courage to try something new or different. It is fear - of failure, of the unknown, of exposing our vulnerabilities - that keeps us from making a change. Have the courage to explore opportunities that challenge you in new ways.

Develop a positive attitude. Author George Bernard Shaw wrote, "You don't hold your own in the world by standing on guard but by attacking and getting well hammered yourself." If you approach life as a change agent, I can guarantee there will be times when you will get "well hammered". But people who approach life with a positive attitude see the good in others and are more confident in their abilities. Those who can find humor in a difficult situation will get through the tough times.

Baseball legend Yogi Berra once said, "The future ain't what it used to be." How very true. We live and work in an environment where uncertainties and complexities abound. But this I know for certain. Those who master the art of change will succeed and flourish.

Best wishes always,

V. Thomas Dock
Dean, College of Business