(Photo provided by SMU )
U.S. Trade Representative and former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk promised he wouldn’t give a lengthy dissertation on trade during his commencement speech.
Kirk kept his promise and instead offered advice for graduating students.
He also briefly discussed his role in the Obama administration, stressing the importance of trade in the lives of Americans and the impact of the recent health care legislation on college graduates.
SMU awarded nearly 2,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees Saturday in Moody Coliseum during the 2010 Commencement ceremony.
“When I reflect on my own commencement,” he said. “I had no idea where life would take me.”
Kirk urged the graduating students to continue to read and read critically, noting that today’s generation has more reading material available to them than any other.
“The issue now is not access,” he said. “The issue is discernment.”
We live in an age where if you’re not a fan of George W. Bush, he said, there’s a blog or community that reinforces your beliefs. Kirk said that if people don’t challenge themselves to read opposing views, they would only validate their own biases.
Kirk also encouraged students to get two things: a voter registration card and a passport.
“Our political discord has to be more than who can shout the loudest,” he said, stressing that voter engagement is important for the future of the U.S.
Passports, he said, were valuable in obtaining a global perspective. He urged students to explore different cultures because more and more jobs require engagement in the global world.
“The worst thing that will happen is you’ll realize how blessed you are,” he said.
Kirk implored students to discover the joy of writing beyond texts or tweets saying “U R awesome, lol.”
“There’s a reason your mother and father have every love letter,” he said. “There’s nothing more powerful than a handwritten note.”
Finally, Kirk directed students not to “shrink from your own genius and accomplishments.”
“Never underestimate your power to change the world,” he said, reminding students that those who have worked to improve the world acted individually. He cited people such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. “They wanted to change their own little corner of the world.”
Kirk discussed growing up in a small church and memorizing John 3:16, a Bible verse about how God sent his son to save the world from its sins. He used that verse to explain the power of one individual.
“God so loved the world he didn’t send a committee,” Kirk said jokingly. “What has God sent you to do?”
