Everest
College Commencement
April 4,
2014
Thank you
President Wynne, ladies and gentlemen, graduates. Congratulations on finally
getting to this great evening.
Most of you
are going into service professions—careers where you’ll work with people to
heal, protect, or promote health and wellness. And most of you will be right
here in this community, making a difference in people’s quality of life every
day that you go to work.
But let me
challenge you do one more thing: get involved in community service. Many of you
are already doing this. It can take so many forms. Tutoring a child, joining a
service club, volunteering for a food bank, serving on a nonprofit board, or
becoming active in your religious congregation.
In my
service as a state legislator, I have come to realize the nobility of public
service as well as the limitations of government. I have spent a lot of time
thinking about what it will take to solve the big problems that confront the
South Puget Sound region. And government can do some things, but government
can’t do everything. What we need more than anything else are volunteers who
care about their neighbors.
Solutions to
our community’s biggest challenges are within our grasp if we work together.
You don’t need a PhD or a title like CEO to get together with friends to do
something great. Friendship is the most powerful force in the world. That’s
always been the case. What’s new is that we live in the age of networks—an age
when anybody with a good idea can make a website, start a Facebook page, or
Tweet 140 characters that will change the way people think about the world
around them.
And speaking
of brevity, we can talk all we want about making a difference. But let’s get on
with the ceremony so you can get out and do it. Thanks for your commitment to a
career in service to your fellow human beings. God bless you all.
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