To achieve, we must keep learning

Remarks by Anthony Villanacci
Student Commencement Speaker Fall 2008

Read more about Anthony Villanacci

Hi. Well, we finally did it. It’s kind of a surreal experience isn’t it? As of today we are college graduates. Congratulations.

But before we walk that stage today to receive our hard-earned diploma cases—I’m told that our actual diplomas are delivered later and somewhat less ceremoniously by the U.S. Postal Service—before we officially end our undergraduate college careers, we should take a moment to stop and consider just what the education we have received here at Texas State really means to us. So, what does it mean to you? Our society seems to have a skewed understanding of what education is—that it is simply a means to an end: a way to get a decent-paying job.

I spent the last four years of my life within that frame of thought, approaching my education strictly in terms of what specific job I thought I could get after I graduated. But the problem was, I couldn’t decide, and as a result, I changed my mind on my major more times than I can count. In the process, however, I ended up taking a lot of very different classes, and through the resulting diversity of my own indecision, I realized what education is really about. It is not about a specific job; it’s about following your curiosities, understanding the world. It’s about pursuing your passions, and keeping those passions alive. In other words, no matter where we go from here, our education is not something that ends once we walk this stage today.

Just think about it: we are truly in extraordinary times. Setting political partisanship aside, we have just seen the election of the first African American to the presidency of our nation. Our generation has also experienced the first major foreign terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Our environment is in crisis; our economy is in shambles.

These are issues that our generation has to confront. We face uncharted waters, and it is for that very reason that we cannot take a static approach to our education. We cannot approach our situation saying that we know how to make the world work—we don’t. But we absolutely have to go in saying that we are ready and willing to try. I implore you all: let us not shirk our responsibility to fix this world, let us embrace it. What we have learned here through our education at Texas State is more valuable than can be conveyed on any diploma or resume. We have learned how to think critically and intelligently, and that is what our world needs right now.

So let us celebrate and be truly proud of our accomplishments; we earned them. But also remember, our work doesn’t stop here. We have to keep learning to keep accomplishing. Remember that. Let us reflect fondly on these past four years, but let us also look boldly to the future.

Once again, congratulations to us all. Thank you.