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Pioneer Pacific University

Thank you President Smith.

Welcome Class of 2007, welcome to your families and friends and to the college administration and faculty.

Thank you for asking me to speak at your ceremony. It was an honor to be asked as the newest Clackamas County Commissioner. I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison that has about 45,000 students, there were 5 graduation ceremonies every year. Four ceremonies for the undergraduates, each one with about 1500-2000 and one for the graduate students. I played my trombone in all 5. I have spent a lot of my time at graduations!

The best news — I didn’t bring my trombone today!

You have attended a college that graduates really motivated and smart people. In fact, you have already proven that you can walk the talk. As John Mellencamp said in his song Peaceful World, “It’s what you do and not what you say, If you’re not part of the future, than get out of the way.”

To your credit, many of you have had families, maybe even a first career, and then have gone back to school. How many of you are the first in your family to graduate with an advanced degree? Congratulations! Your success is based on your own initiative and the support that your friends, family and colleagues have given you to achieve this honor.

The Class of 2007 will bring valuable skills, energy and leadership to the fields of business, paralegal, criminal justice, information technology and medicine. All of which are needed in Clackamas County! We are becoming a healthcare center in Clackamas County. County citizens recently supported our sheriff with a 5 year levy that will hire folks into the fields of criminal justice. And we have a growing number of small and expanding companies that will need your help in business administration and management.

And you have every reason to look forward to challenging and exciting times ahead.

One recent graduate of Pioneer Pacific is now working @ the CIA in DC. Many graduates have been offered jobs through externships. This past month, 6 paralegal graduates got jobs with law offices. Two former Criminal Justice Students now work as correctional officers @ Coffee Creek Prison. Another took a job with the Dept. of Prisons in Utah. Another is now the one and only Park Ranger for the City of Lake Oswego — the city where I served on the city council and helped approve the position. This list of successes goes on and on.

I would like to take one moment to reflect on lessons I have learned in school and in the work force. These ideas may sound familiar, and I hope you remember them because they are ideas that have helped make you successful to date and will keep you successful in the future.

  • I think, therefore I am Oregonian. Have you seen the billboard? I love this sign because Oregonians have a history of independent thinking. In fact, since I have been in Oregon, I have found several points in my life where my brain literally hurts. And it isn’t a headache. It is because I am taking in new information from a new perspective and my brain is having a hard time sorting it all out. And then a week goes by and I see a new world. Always be curious and question the way things hav always been done.
  • Don’t Bowl Alone — There is no such thing as a virtual reality — President Clinton said to MIT graduates in 1998. We live in a world where we (including myself) get our news from a comedy show-Jon Stewart’s Daily Show and we watch more and more T.V. Author Robert Putnam wrote a book called Bowling Alone where he documented from the 1940s on the number of people testifying at public meetings membership in Rotaries and Lions Clubs, number of picnics families had and the number of times people invited other people to dinner at their homes. As you suspect, those numbers are going down. Which is an interesting look into the so ness of our culture. To date Oregonians buck the trend. You have given yourself a great gift, the gift of knowledge. Now, I ask of you, to share your new knowledge with the community, have picnics and have fun.

You may know people who say: I don’t have time to get involved in politics or service to the o them — and to you, I would commend the words of Teddy Roosevelt:

Democracy is based on the principle of service by everybody who claims the any right.

The person who refuses to render service is saying they are not fit to live in a democracy.

  • Turn your wounds into wisdom – Oprah When something happens to you that kicks you in the gut and you want to go hide, be solution oriented.
  • Be real, be honest and work to find a positive way to get your wind back...because you need to feel like your job is as second nature as breathing.

Congratulations graduates...you have had Challenges conquered, Projects completed, Timelines created and met and Goals reached and surpassed

Just remember, the words of John Mellencamp

"It’s what you do and not what you say
If you’re not part of the future, than get
Everything is cool as can be in a peaceful world."