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Commencement Speech

Keep Your Dreams Alive: Never Give Up

By LaTisha Taylor

Commencement 2012

Just so tradition isn’t completely demolished today, let’s

get all the silly but truthful clichés that apply to us out of the

way. Yay! We made it; this is just the beginning of the rest of

our lives. We are not fish out of water anymore; we are now

birds leaving the nest that is Marietta College to take flight to

a new life; and finally, we are gathered here today because

we have reached our goals by following the path less trod. Ok,

now that we have the clichés out of the way, let’s get serious.

Fellow graduates we are gathered here today not only to

celebrate but also to say goodbye to our second home. A

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home that has defined the blueprints that will help us assume

the beginning of our new lives. Welcome President Scott,

Provost Perruci, the board of trustees, faculty and staff, loved

ones-- and my fellow graduates for the class of 2012.

Our metamorphosis is much like that of an architect. We

outline and plan how to handle difficult changes in our

everyday lives. The more we learn, experience, and face

challenges, the tougher the building of our foundation is. In

order to explain the importance of sketching the building of

our foundation, let’s relate our experiences to those of three

famous characters from literature. They, too, developed their

blueprints for lasting strength and security. This is a story of

the three little pigs. It begins just as it did with us--- with our

parents leaving us with an emotional goodbye as well as some

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advice. “Whatever you do, do it the best that you can,

because that's the way to get along in the world.”

The first piggy represents us during our freshman and

sophomore years. We arrived at Marietta College with

blueprints already drafted from our childhood experiences

through high school. We worried, “Will I be able to make new

friends? Will I be able to handle all the homework, or studying

for exams and still have time for extracurricular activities?”

Reaching for our blueprints, sketching, erasing, and adjusting,

we addressed these initial worries and stresses. We joined

fraternities, sororities, sports, forensics, theatre, or

organizations like Charles Sumner Harrison.

We bought organizers to help arrange our social and

personal lives so that we could deal with all that college

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entails. The structure was shaky, because we didn’t know

what to expect; like that first little piggy we took the easy way

out, grabbing flimsy materials to build the first shelter. As

sophisticated systemized sophomores we had superior college

survival skills. Sometimes, however, there lurks a big bad wolf

that rattles our walls and cracks our confidences. Just as a

blue print begins with initial plans, and solid expectations,

events force us to rearrange, reduce, or refine our goals,

majors and careers.

Although my mind’s picture portrayed me as a CNN

anchor, Marietta College helped me realize that my faulty

design should be replaced with a clearly focused background

in Communication where I can work directly with people

other than merely report on their activities. The big bad wolf

called “stress” huffed and puffed and blew down our straw

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house, but like the strong, independent, pioneers that we are,

we showed that we are not quitters. We showed defiance to

that dumb wolf and said in our humorous pioneer way, “Not

by the hair of my chinny chin chin will we quit”! Instead we

went back to our desks with a renewed vigor and started

erasing, sketching, rethinking, and reworking our blueprints to

meet that big bad wolf head on. To do this we acquired new

tools, materials, and ideas that we learned at MC. While

you’re hard at work, remember Yolanda Adams lyrics “Never

give up.”

“Every victory comes in time; work today to change

tomorrow. Every step you take, you get closer to your

destination. Keep the dream alive; don't let it die. And never

give up; don't ever give up on you”.

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With redrafted blueprints, our second foundation out of sticks

was much stronger than the shaky straw house. As juniors we

had grown exponentially; we were more stable in our chosen

majors, knew how to study, and understood time

management. Yet sometimes, as we all know, everything isn’t

perfect and neither are we. When life is going well, the big

bad wolf likes to reemerge ten times stronger.

We are that big bad wolf, our own worst enemy when we

allow our insecurities, doubts, and fears to block the way of

achieving our goals. Consequently, that big bad wolf huffed

and puffed and blew our house apart! When doubts are your

enemy, be defiant; say, “Not by the hair of my chinny chin

chin,” and return to your blueprints.

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Finally, it’s senior year and we have survived all the big

bad wolves. By pouring the strongest foundation possible at

Marietta College we have shown the commitment to meet life

head on. We faced the big bad wolves of stress, time, change,

and self. Yet we are here and that says we have conquered.

That big bad wolf huffed and puffed with all his might and

couldn’t blow down the bricks of our blue and white

foundation.

He has slunk away, his tale between his legs while today

we stand or sit triumphantly. Tom Stoppard expresses the

hope of the future “every exit is an entry somewhere”. As

Congressman John Lewis said on this stage in 2008, “Get in the

way.”

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My fellow graduates, though we are taking our exit from

Marietta College, remember, it is always an entry to another

experience, another opportunity to help others face the

wolves of the world. Our education has taught us to study,

think, challenge, and change. Like architects we can always go

back to our blue prints and rework, erase, sketch and adjust to

strengthen our foundation. Be defiant to that next big bad

wolf and say “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin will I

quit!” Congratulations class of 2012!!!

LaTisha Taylor Commencement Speech

Prompt to Clone This LaTisha Taylor Commencement Speech

Apply this example's core structure, strategic pacing, and structural hierarchy directly to your own topic.

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