‘Remember your successes from these four years’
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| Walker |
Lauren Walker (BA-Marketing ’08) was chosen to deliver the commencement address to her classmates on Saturday, May 3, 2008. She will be moving to Minneapolis in July to work for General Mills’ In-Store Bakeries and Foodservice Division as a Business Management Associate. Here is her speech:
Good afternoon esteemed faculty and staff, family and friends, and most importantly to you, my fellow graduates, the class of 2008.
My name is Lauren Walker and I am honored to be able to represent you as your student commencement speaker this afternoon.
As Business majors, we have been taught that success is hitting the bottom line, while making the top dollar; creating shareholder wealth, becoming meaningful managers, and excelling to become experts in our chosen fields. As graduates of Michigan State University, success is walking across this stage, receiving our diplomas, and entering the world to make a difference with the values and lessons we have learned over the last four years, both in and outside of the classroom.
So how do we, as the class of 2008, set our sights on the ways that we can be most successful in our careers and in our lives?
In a small basement in Seattle in 1907, two teenagers embarked upon their dreams as young entrepreneurs. With nothing more than a $100 dollar loan, the 19 year olds began what, unknowingly at the time, would become the world’s largest package delivery service. Enduring hardships, yet never giving up on the chance for success, the two young men continued to grow their small business and pave the way for the American package delivery system. Just over 100 years later, UPS has continued the success of Claude Ryan and Jim Casey to organize and expand into a global business phenomenon.
So you may be thinking, what does UPS have to do with me? I am here to propose that if two young men at the age of 19 could achieve their dreams of success…all of us can. Whether it be in the corporate world, the academic setting, or in our personal lives, each one of you sitting before me has the knowledge and expertise to fulfill each one of your goals, no matter how lofty they may seem.
After all, for everyone here, success is not a foreign concept. Graduating from high school, gaining admission to a top Big Ten University, and arguably most important, being able to attend The Riv, Lou Ha’s, and Rick’s all on a Thursday afternoon with money left to spare for Panchero’s…that’s success!
As long as the last twenty one or so years of our lives have seemed, we have only begun to aspire to our full potential. As we leave this university and embark on the rest of our lives, we will truly realize how successful we all can become.
For many of us, the corporate world is our next step. And if you are anything like me, that in itself is a little scary. The corporate world involves CEO’s, dress codes, and God forbid, the opportunity to make a costly and disastrous mistake.
In the 1970’s while singing in his church choir, Art Fry became extremely annoyed that the paper markers were falling out of his songbook – causing him to constantly lose his place. Remembering a so-called “costly mistake” of one of his co-workers, Art Fry used a discarded adhesive to paste the paper bookmarks into his hymnal. To his surprise, this worked astonishingly well and when Art Fry returned to the office, he began distribution of his new invention. On April 6, 1980, the Post-It Note was launched by 3M and is currently the most widely used office product.
As we enter into the corporate world, we are bound to make mistakes and sometimes down-right failures. However, with those failed endeavors comes the motivation for success.
With that in mind, I challenge you, the Eli Broad College of Business, graduating class of 2008, that as you leave this university behind you and start the next chapter of your lives, stay conscious of the failures. But more than that, remember the success that each of you has achieved these last four years, and envision the success you will achieve for the rest of your lives.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said,
To laugh much;
To win respect of intelligent persons and the affections of children;
To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give one's self;
To leave the world a little better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm, and sung with exultation;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—
This is to have succeeded.
Congratulations and good luck to all of you on the rest of your journey toward success.
For more on the commencement, including background about both the undergraduate and graduate classes of 2008, click here.