I have had quite a few requests from family and close friends to read the speech I gave at the Department of Education and Human Development convocation just over a month ago. So, if you're interested, enjoy!
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Congratulations
to all of my fellow graduates! I am sure I am not alone in feeling that this
entire day has been so surreal. I have experienced many emotions including
excitement, humility, and relief! We made it to this very important milestone
in each of our lives, but it was not without effort. We are all sitting here,
about to walk across this stage and receive our diplomas because we put in
time, effort, and a lot of sacrifice to make it to this point. Fortunately, I
believe we can all look back and see our efforts were not wasted. We are not
sitting here today feeling like we wasted our time, or that we could have done
something better with the last 4 or more years. This is because this time in
our lives has been filled with growth. As we walk across the stage and receive
our diploma, we are being rewarded with an incredible amount of growth; growth
in faith, growth in knowledge, growth in experiences, growth in relationships,
growth in character, and growth in testimony. Our ultimate reward is that over
our time at this remarkable university, we have experienced growth in more ways
than we can possibly realize. Our diploma, simply a piece of paper, is
meaningless without the realization of what it represents – our sacrifice of so
many things to be able to grow personally, emotionally, spiritually, and
academically.
So
what now? I for one know that I have experienced all of those great emotions
today, but over the past few weeks I have also experienced a lot of fear and
anxiety over what lies ahead. I have felt a resistance to the big changes that
are going to occur in my life now that this stage is over, and this is coming
from a girl who has moved more times than she can count in the last 22 years. I
have never felt more resistance to change than I have lately. As I’ve thought
about this, along with all of the positive emotions I have felt, I’ve realized
a few key things.
First,
fear cannot dictate our choices. Elder Neil L. Andersen, in the October 2008
general conference stated, “Challenges, difficulties, questions, doubts – these
are part of our mortality. But we are not alone. As disciples of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have enormous spiritual reservoirs of light and truth available to
us. Fear and faith cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time. In our days
of difficulty, we choose the road of faith. Jesus said, ‘Be not afraid, only
believe.’” Ultimately, we have to make the decision to place faith over fear.
Ultimately, we all have to come to believe and know that with the Lord, it will
all work out. This leads to my second point.
Putting
our faith in the Lord does not mean we will not experience difficulties. As I’m
sure we already have, we will all continue to face challenges and trials in our
lives. This is what allows us to grow! Think back to some of the hardest
classes you have taken – were those challenging courses not so rewarding in the
ways you grew as a result of your time and effort? Without challenges, we would
not experience growth. Elder Dallin H. Oaks has stated, “We may have to struggle
to achieve our goals, but our struggles may yield as much growth as our
learning. The strengths we develop in overcoming challenges will be with us in
the eternities to come. We should not envy those whose financial or
intellectual resources make it easy. The stuff of growth was never made of
ease, and persons who have it easy will need to experience their growth with
other sacrifices or forego the advancement that is the purpose of life.” Growth
occurs as we push through trials, realizing that with the Lord, it will all
work out as long as we have placed our faith and trust in him. Proverbs 3:5-6
reads, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy way acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
This brings me to my third and final point.
Elder
Russell M. Nelson, in the October 2013 General Conference began his talk,
“Decision for Eternity” by saying, “My dear brothers and sisters, each day is a
day of decision. President Thomas S. Monson has taught us that ‘decisions
determine destiny.’ The wise use of your freedom to make your own decision is
crucial to your spiritual growth, now and for eternity. You are never too young
to learn, never too old to change. Your yearnings to learn and change come from
a divinely instilled striving for eternal progression. Each day brings
opportunities for eternity.” We have been given the beautiful gift of agency.
We have the ability to make our own choices, to choose each day if we will put
faith over fear, to choose each day if we will trust the Lord in our trials. We
have been given the gift of being able to choose to put our circumstances to
work for us, no matter how ideal or not ideal they may be.
These
are all things that we have all learned in some way or another over our time at
this University. These are all things that we know, that we have gained a
testimony of, that we truly believe.
So
now, as we all move on, to graduate school, a career, marriage, motherhood or
fatherhood, or whatever it may be, we do so remaining steadfast to these things
we have learned. We know that our efforts have not been wasted, that our growth
has not been wasted.
I
would like to close with an excerpt from a talk President Gordon B. Hinckley
gave at this very pulpit as he dedicated this Hinckley building. In a very
powerful closing statement, which I will do my best to emulate, he states to
students just like us, “Be faithful, be true, go forward, be ambitious, don’t
short circuit yourself, don’t stop now, keep going. Educate your minds and your
spirits, and never lose sight of the fact that you’re a child of God with a
divine destiny, and capable of doing great and good and wonderful things, don’t
sell yourself short, don’t cheapen yourselves. You know who you are, you know
that you are a Child of God, and that your Heavenly Father expects something
great and noble and good of each of you… keep the faith, you’ll marry, you’ll have
children, you’ll have grandchildren, you’ll go out and do the work of this
world, but maintain your integrity, be honest, be good, be decent, be
prayerful, and the God of heaven will smile upon you and bless you, and give
happiness into your heart and a sense of peace in your lives. There’s no end in
sight for the good you can do, you know it? You’re just simple kids, you’re not
geniuses, I know that. But the work of the world isn’t done by geniuses; it’s
done by ordinary people who have learned to work in an extraordinary way.”
To
all of my fellow graduates, I would say – over our time at this University we
have learned to work in an extraordinary way. Utilizing our education and the
growth we have experienced, we will be able to go out into the world and do
extraordinary things, whatever they may be. As we go forward in life keeping
these things in mind – to remain faithful, to put our faith in the Lord, and to
use our agency wisely, we will be blessed and be able to overcome trials,
growing and learning as we were sent here to do.
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For those who requested to see the video I mentioned at the end, here it is:
