Speech: Honors Convocation

[2018]

Edited by Kathleen Thomas

Good afternoon,

First of all, I’d like to congratulate you all on all of your varied accomplishments this year.  

I have something to confess.  I kind of forgot that I had to make this speech. My brain tends to block out things that stress me out, and one of the primary things that scare me in life is speaking in front of large groups of people.  So yay.

Thankfully, Kathleen Thomas reminded me that this was one of my responsibilities as we were talking during one of the Boys and Girls Clubs STEM workshops that took place earlier this year.  We were sitting in the corner of the Society Room in Cebula supervising the engineering students as they worked with the kids from the Boys and Girls club.  I told Kathleen that I didn’t really know what to talk about for this speech.  She very generously offered to forward a couple of speeches that were done in the past to hopefully provide a little inspiration to guide my short talk today.  As she searched in her files on her laptop for past speeches, I stared at her computer, and then promptly realized that was rude, so I turned my attention to the students working in the room. 

My eyes caught the usual hubbub for this type of event:  A look of frustration from a couple of engineering students as they tried to explain a concept that’s kind of convoluted to someone else, many voices asking to borrow the measuring stick or scissors or clay, a student drawing out her ideas on a piece of paper, one of our engineering students asking questions to a student to engage them in participating in their group.  But what really caught my attention were the excited voices as students began brainstorming ideas for their project.  They noted ideas that I didn’t consider at all.  There was a sense of exploration with the students - a willingness to try something that seems new - because why not?  

It’s this sentiment of curiosity and open-mindedness that, I think, can get kind of lost over time and through life.  As I watched the students talk about their ideas, I came to realize that I unintentionally limited what I believed to be the solution.  Because I knew that certain designs worked (from past experiences), I gave up thinking about different ways that could work. It can be really easy to fall back on old patterns that don’t necessarily require us to reflect back and think, “why this way and not that way”?  Sometimes it doesn’t feel like there’s enough time to ask, “what is that” and “who are they”?  It can be easy for pride to stop us from asking seemingly silly questions, like “how does this work”?   

So, as I have this platform to talk to all of you who’ve done wonderful things throughout the year, but who may feel the pressure of time and responsibilities to disengage that childlike curiosity for the sake of efficiency, I’d like to encourage you to take time and be curious.  Let your spirit animal be that annoying two-year old at Costco who never stops asking questions.  Give yourself time to wonder.  Then give yourself space to pursue finding answers to your questions.  When something in class sparks your interest, pursue it.  When someone says something that you’d like to know more about, engage them in conversation.  When an inkling feeling rises in your soul that encourages you to try something new, try it out.  Let yourself be open to ideas and perspectives that may be different from your own.  I encourage you to find genuine interest in the ideas, knowledge, and people you’ve been exposed to here at SMU.  Be inquisitive.  Remain curious. 

I wish you all good luck and God bless as the end of the academic year approaches.  Hang in there for the next couple of weeks:  You can do it!  That message is mostly for the faculty and staff, but the message can apply to everyone here. Again, congratulations to all of you here today.