Graduation Speech: We Must Give Back!

When I was asked to be your commencement speaker I figured it was my responsibility to say something so significant that it would help you make sense of what you have experienced over the last two years. I figured that I should answer one of life's great mysteries that you may have been confused about. And I am prepared to do that today. The question is, we have been dealing with them, writing papers about them, but what in the world are these Learning Outcomes anyway? And why have you made us study them?

Well, here is how you can make you education work for you. As many of you leave the protective walls of Lennon , you will be looking for jobs and careers that require interviews. When the interviewer asks you (and they will, I promise) tell me a little about your educational background, you won't just look at them confused like a graduate from BCC, NO! Whip out those learning outcomes and here is what you are going to say:

I graduated from one of the most technologically advanced community colleges in the country where I was required to integrate advanced software into my learning to be successful.

I have the ability to be a member or leader of teams of any size composed of people from very diverse racial, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds. My degree is evidence that teams have successfully completed tasks within a short amount of time.

I can express my ideas clearly and confidently to large groups of people.

And last but not least, I can evaluate the world around me to make critical decisions that will benefit your company immensely.

And if you deliver your responses with confidence and conviction, all they will hopefully say is, your hired.

On a more philosophical note, my fellow students and I have truly made history. We are the first two-year graduating class of Lennon Community College. Our wisdom as students helped shape this institution.

Every school in the world has a certain feel to it. That feeling is made up of the quality of the people within the school. That feeling is also based on the legacy of the upper classmen whom have added there own identity and passed it down. In our case, being a brand new school, there was no legacy to adopt, we were the first, and the class of 2002 took it upon ourselves to create what many observers think is the most nurturing, open minded and healthy educational atmosphere in the State of Washington.