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“Life is a journey,
not a destination,” graduates are told; Edison Community College celebrates 27th annual commencement
“How do you want the next chapter to end?” asked the speaker at Friday evening’s commencement at Edison Community College.
“As you go forth from your experiences here at Edison, remember that life does not always go the way we want,” said State Representative Derrick Seaver, who serves Ohio’s 85th district in the upper Miami Valley.
“Remember that America is a great country because we all begin with the same status and opportunities,” he continued. “But where you end is up to you.”
Seaver, addressing a crowd of over 2,500 at Edison’s 27th annual commencement, challenged Edison’s 346 associate degree graduates and certificate recipients to carry on the great accomplishments of their parents’ generations, which, he said, took over this great country and turned it into the world’s only superpower.
“It is required of each and everyone of us-- whether we’re doctors, lawyers, teachers, or politicians-- to make our communities even better places in which to live, work,
and raise a family,” he said.
“America was not built in the marble buildings of Washington, but rather in the fields of western Ohio and the homes of its citizens such as you, your parents, and grandparents.”
Seaver, who became Ohio’s youngest representative at age 18 back on Election Day 2000, is currently enrolled at
an Ohio university.
He reported to the Edison graduates that, during his many trips to the Piqua campus, it was “a blessing to meet professors, administrators, and students from this fine institution of higher education.”
Seaver noted that Edison provides an affordable, high quality alternative to the standard, more expensive, four-year public and private schools.
“Many of you are entering the job market and many others are transferring credits to bachelor’s degree programs where you will enroll as juniors,” he detailed.
“One thing for sure,” he added, “thanks to your associate degree you can expect to earn, on the average, $250,000 more in your lifetime than people with just high school diplomas.”
Seaver pointed out to the Edison grads that their lives’ pathways toward many goals will hit roadblocks along the way.
He cited the life of Abraham Lincoln-- who lost numerous elections including the vice-presidency twice, who was despondent and ill three times for extended periods while suffering from depression, and who went deeply in debt after his initial business failed in 1833.
Twenty-seven years later he was elected the 16th president, Seaver noted.
“Learn from Lincoln,” he urged the graduates. “Life is truly a journey, not a destination.”
Many of Edison’s graduates who have been in the workforce for a while knew, from firsthand experience, what Seaver was talking about.
Downsizing by industry, for example, had already forced some men and women earning degrees Friday to re-educate themselves.
“The need to change careers didn’t seem like a good thing at first,” said Jennifer K. Dever of Piqua, who lost a job when her employer went out of business.
“Now I’ve got the bug to go on,” added Dever,
who is one of the first to complete the new associate degree in medical office assisting. Dever will continue her education further by pursuing a second degree in nursing.
“I will benefit greatly by combining the skills from both programs,” she said.
“Nursing is one of the hottest careers. The profession of caring for people will always be vital and necessary.”
Graduate Jeffrey Collingsworth also represented a significant portion of Edison’s graduates. Like more than one-third of them, he is transferring credits to a four-year university. Also, like more than a third of the grads, he had transferred to Edison a handful of credits from other institutions.
“Until now, I was never in the right place at the right time,” said Collingsworth, who took courses at a four-year school and another community college before Edison.
“I succeeded here with flying careers,” said the straight-A graduate.
He was thankful for the advice and instruction of professors Jane Salisbury and Nancy Cooper, who, he said, “helped make college a personable and rewarding experience.”
With his focus set on a second career in marketing and sales for a major company, Collingsworth is off to Indiana University.
Graduate Karen Zelnick of Troy is also taking her credits out of state.
“Edison’s courses travel for miles and miles-- from Piqua, Ohio, to Provo, Utah,” said Zelnick, who will study dietetics at Brigham Young University this fall.
Edison President Dr. Kenneth A. Yowell conferred degrees on the Year 2002 graduates. Philip C. Lootens, interim vice president for academic and student affairs, presented the candidates for degrees.
Lewis A. Blackford of Shelby County, chairman of the Edison board of trustees, offered introductions and the commencement welcome.
Edison graduated 42 from its associate degree nursing program. Thirty-nine completed degrees in computer information technology.
Approximately 150 start the junior years of their bachelor’s degrees this summer and fall.
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