Valedictory Address

"Valedictory Address" (26 May 1988): 1-5. (UA Case 68, Box 1).

You know, the first time that we entered the Aitken Centre as Freshmen, we wore those silly little caps. Now that we are here for the last time, we are once again wearing hats, only these babies cost $35,000 to $45,000.

Much has happened from that time as Frosh until today. When most of us came here, we were still teenagers out of high school, all confused and excited with our new lives. However, we could at least find some stability in the fact that we knew our classes started the first Monday in September. Years later we leave U.N.B. as adults on our own, perhaps feeling less sure of ourselves than when we first came in. It is hard to find some stability in the confusion of again starting a new part of life. For many of us now, unlike the end of Frosh Week, we do not know when that first Monday will come. I personally, having seen what the everyday work world is like, wish that I had thrown an exam so I could have come back. Having 8:30 classes three times a week last term seems like sleeping in now.

Of course, as I am sure you will agree, there are some things that will not be missed—like pulling all-nighters for an assignment, Math professors who write on the board with their right hand and erase simultaneously with their left, or having bought second-hand textbooks from your friends only to find out the professor changed the text from last term, and, of course, the tables on the gym floors for exams that inevitably have one leg shorter than the rest. However, what you will miss the most are the people. Every school is virtually the same. What gives it its life, its essence, are the people within.

In your years spent here you came to know a great number of people. There are some who you sincerely wish the spring floods would wash away, but many have become your friends. Saying goodbye to them, perhaps for a very long time will be a difficult thing to do. These are the people who have made your university days. These are the people who you would order a Luna pizza with to pull an all-nighter, or who would help you to make up excuses for your parents when an "F" would mysteriously appear on your transcript. It is hard to say good-bye to a particular friend who would listen quietly while you babbled over a painful break-up or perhaps over a family problem, or even over the death of another friend.

Doing this, leaving your friends is a simple fact of life. It is part of the next stage that you have to go through in your evolution. To get to the end of this chunk of your life and to arrive at the beginning of the next, much work had to be done. I am sure that almost everyone here at some time has said "That's it, I give up, I've had enough, I've simply had enough!" But you realized that you could not, and kept going, and now you are finally here. So what now? You have struggled for four or five years to finally receive your diploma, shake the president's hand and then what? You say, "I don't like what I took" or "It's not useful for anything. What can I do with this degree?" If that is the way you think, then you are missing the point. A university diploma does not mean you get a job. A university diploma does not set a smooth course for the rest of your life. What must be remembered about it is that everything that has been learned, every course, every thought or every experience gained here has been pooled together to give us the capability to be a productive, thinking individual who can learn. That is so important when it comes to everyday life.

I remember when Ed and Lorrainne Warren, who are psychic investigators, came to give a lecture at U.N.B. a few years ago. The last lecture they gave was too scary for me because at the time I lived in the haunted house on Waterloo Row. I said to Lorraine: "I'm really curious to hear your next lecture but, to be perfectly honest, I don't think I want to know about it." She said to me: "Perhaps you should, for knowledge is your best weapon." Well, according to my transcripts, I'm not very well armed. This is not only true for ghosts and goblins but for the real world as well. How many of us close our eyes to what is going on around us, thinking if I ignore it, or don't know about it, it will go away, or not happen? We cannot do that anymore.

We as graduates, have proven that we have learned a certain amount and are capable of learning much more. We must use this knowledge as a weapon to help against the tougher times in life. When people look at a blank page with a dot in the middle, most people would say, "It's a dot" — when in actuality it's a white page with a small blemish. The point is: Don't focus on the smaller insignificant problems; look more to the whole scene. If you should foul something up...so what! You know the best way to learn is from mistakes. Fortunately for us, life is one big trial and error circuit, so there will be plenty of time to learn.

A prime example of learning and how costly it can be is that not too long ago an executive for Xerox made a major blunder that cost the company ten million dollars. Knowing that this meant losing his job, he wrote a letter of resignation to the President and took it to him. He explained to his superior that he wanted to resign to save them the task of firing him for his mistake. The President looked shocked and said: "You've got to be kidding. We've just spent ten million dollars to educate you and now you want to leave?"

The idea is to turn negatives into positives. What is the point of spending all this time learning if you are not willing to go out there and try out what you know, and find out what you don't know? If you go out there into the real world and don't make any mistakes, then you are doing one of two things. First you are either stagnating, coasting in idle, getting moldy and going to waste or you are being perfect. And if you're perfect, then nobody's going to want to be your friend.

In making mistakes and learning from them, you should always try to strive for success. Success does not have to be a monetary value. It cannot be measured against someone else but only to yourself. Do not compromise your personality or individuality to fit a social norm. You do not have to have two cars in the driveway and a double garage to be a success. Often in life the biggest successes come from helping a friend to finish a race and not trying to win it for yourself.

So now comes the time to say good-bye and wish you well from here on. Remember the idea is to keep up with life and to get what you can from it and to give back what you can using the knowledge and experience as that you have learned here. Also in striving for success, in spite of what I said, it would be fun to make sure that the next time you see your old friend, you'll be the one driving the BMW with all of your hair and he's driving a '77 Camero and is completely bald.

Well, it's done. You are now graduates of U.N.B. Be proud of that; move forward and make this great university proud of you.