Friday the 13th …May 2016

COMMENCEMENT Thank you, Dr. Thomas and those who invited me to speak this Friday the 13th.

It’s a significant night for me because 19 years ago... TONIGHT… I was sitting

right down there where you are now …and let me just say….. I was a WHOLE lot

less nervous and a WHOLE lot more comfortable sitting down there than

standing up here. 19 years ago the only thing that was on my mind was getting

out of here to celebrate my accomplishments and thinking …what now?. Who

would have guessed that what I do today did not even exist 19 years ago .. not

even 9 years ago. I work in the virtual IT realm that is fast moving and

constantly evolving. Which brings me to how my Midland College experiences

shaped and continue to shape my life and career?

In my last semester at MC…I was given the opportunity to present the

curriculum for and instruct a course required for MY degree. You should

know … this was the course that was going to eat my lunch. It was very

challenging. Not only did I choose what text books to use… but I wrote my own

labs….. You haven’t lived until you’ve had to write your own labs ….. AND….

make them work. Basically I was starting from scratch because this specific

computer related topic was changing so fast that the text books were obsolete

before they were published. I want to just give you a little perspective on this

challenge. 19 years, ago …. Google did not exist. Search engines were hit and

miss… not everyone had Internet to their house… dialup modems were the

bomb…laptops were about …(hand gesture) this thick.… Windows NT was the

OPERATING SYSTEM of choice. The re-writable compact disk was introduced.

Cell phones could only be used to call an actual phone number… Facebooks…

Mark Zuckerberg… was just starting junior high…. Back then we got all excited

about megahertz and megabytes.. now were using Gigahertz , terabytes, and

Petabytes, not to mention Exabyte’s, … Zettabytes and Yottabytes. A cloud

connection meant a chance of rain in Midland. And I have to put in a plug

here…because it was going to affect my life…..IBM SYSTEMs DEEP BLUE … beat

the world chess champion after a 6 game match. I could go on and on…but I

think you get the picture … For every hour of teaching I spent 4 hours

preparing. Let me just say by the end of the semester not only did I know the

course material but I knew how to teach it

If there is such a thing as the secret recipe for me… it was THIS SKILL… that I

walked away from Midland College with. That set a precedent for the rest of

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my life and career. This is the skill that allows my managers to send me as first

pick to education classes….knowing that I will turn around and teach it to my

peers. This is what allows me to keep up in this fast-paced ever-evolving

…Cutting Edge job. Who knew that the two classes I struggled the most with at

MC… would be the very classes that launched my career.

So what am I doing today? I spend my time creating education and teaching

other IBMers both formally and informally , troubleshooting why things don’t

work the way they should and a lot of time developing my own invention. I

also take great pride working from my home. When I am not traveling…I get to

enjoy my family and be deeply involved in their lives.

As I left here …that night … 19 years ago I really couldn’t have guessed that my

education was not at the end… just the beginning.

As you leave here tonight…you may not remember a word that has been

spoken…BUT…perhaps you will remember that this commencement speech

was short.

I wonder what will exist in another 19 years from now…don’t stop imagining because I

would expect that in 19 years or less it will be you talking about the changes you have made.

Congratulations on all your hard work and I hope you too can find fulfilment

and success in your future endeavors.