WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.000 upbeat music 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.000 Greetings WOU class of 2020! 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.000 In my own 30 years since starting college, I've gone through a lot of changes: 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:24.000 from undergrad student, to grad student, to faculty member to dean. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:27.000 Through all this change, one constant has been 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:30.000 that graduation is my favorite day of the academic year. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:33.000 For you see, I am a complete nerd. 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:36.000 I love the ceremony, I love the pageantry. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:38.000 I even love this crazy outfit I have to wear. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:43.000 Most of all, I love the sheer joy that bubbles over on this day 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:47.000 and the pride I see on the faces of our students, their families and friends. 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:51.000 I know you will miss that this year. So will I. 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:55.000 I know this is not how any of us imagined your time here at WOU would end. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:58.000 And yet, that joy and that pride are still there. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:00:61.000 Nothing can change the fact that you've taken on a formidable challenge 00:01:01.000 --> 00:01:04.000 and you have succeeded. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:07.000 If you sometimes wonder how we'll get through these current 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:09.000 tough times, look back and realize, 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:12.000 you already know how to do this. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:14.000 Think back to your first day at college 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:16.000 when four years from now seemed to be a long ways off. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:20.000 Today, it seems like your freshmen year passed quickly. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.000 Every challenge you've faced seemed to pass slowly at the time. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:28.000 Yet when you look through the rearview mirror of life, it seems to pass quickly. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:32.000 Graduating proves that you overcame those challenges. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:36.000 Know that someday this too, will be in life's rearview mirror. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:38.000 That day will come. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.000 We don't know when. But it will. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:43.000 As I've grown older, one thing I've learned is that the saying, 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:48.000 This too shall pass. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:51.000 Graduating today proves to you, and to all those around you, 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:54.000 that you already know how to succeed against challenges. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:56.000 You already know how to take on tough problems 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:59.000 and come out, triumphant, on the other side. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:01:63.000 This crisis has made it clear that there are many ways 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.000 in which we need to make this world better. 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:07.000 You will take the knowledge you have gained here, 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:09.000 and the persistence you have developed here 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:12.000 and you will help create that better world. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.000 You already know how to do this. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.000 Here is to the class of 2020! 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:21.000 Congratulations, graduates! 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:25.000 My name is Mark Girod and I serve as the Dean of the College of Education. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:27.000 I have to tell you I completely bummed 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:31.000 that we're not able to celebrate graduation in the traditional fashion. 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:35.000 Graduation is a special time with friends, family, and your professors 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:39.000 and for this pandemic to have robbed you of this.I'm sincerely sorry. 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:44.000 However, life is all about challenges, opportunities and being flexible. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:47.000 And in that spirit we will carry forward together! 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:51.000 Just a couple things on this day, I want to leave you with a challenge. 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:54.000 A challenge to love your life in a particular way. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:57.000 To live your life according to a code or a set of ideals. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:02:61.000 If you don't already live by a code you can borrow this one, it's pretty good one. 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:06.000 First, to know. I challenge you to continue to get smarter about things. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:09.000 Graduation is a celebration of your accomplishments 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:13.000 but you aren't done learning.We're never done learning. 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.000 Embrace your nerdly-ness wholeheartedly 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:19.000 and continue to learn and to seek to know. 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:24.000 Second, to care. I challenge you to open your hear and truly care for others. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:27.000 We all know people who choose to shield themselves from caring relationships 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:32.000 and I encourage you to resist the urge to protect yourself in this way. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:37.000 Care deeply. Love heartily. Embrace your heart and the hearts of others. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:41.000 Third, to act. I challenge you to act in the world. 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:44.000 I challenge you to use what you know and to demonstrate your care 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:47.000 by acting in the world to make it a better place. 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:52.000 To know, to care and to act. Like I said it's a pretty good code. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:54.000 If you don't already have one you can use this one. 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:58.000 Feel free to get it tattooed on your arm or your face. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:03:60.000 In all seriousness, I wish each of you the very best 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:03.000 as you out into the world. 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:05.000 Always remember the road that take you away from campus 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:07.000 also leads you back here. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:10.000 And you will always be a wolf. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.000 Congratulations! 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:29.000 upbeat music