2/8/2001

Thank you very much, Dean Silverman. As a two-time LSU graduate, I'm very honored to speak here today. I always enjoy returning to the LSU campus, and visiting with the faculty, staff and students. Each time I return, I am reminded of all that LSU has given to me.

This ceremony feels very familiar. Twelve years ago, almost to the day, I sat where you are sitting, attending my second LSU graduation ceremony. As Dean Silverman mentioned, I received two undergraduate degrees from the LSU College of Basic Sciences: the first in Zoology and the second in Computer Science. During each graduation ceremony, the speakers congratulated the graduates, welcomed us into the so-called "real" world, and offered insights into the next chapter of our lives. Now it's my turn to return the favor.

First, the congratulations: to the graduates in Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Computer Science, Geology & Geophysics, and Physics & Astronomy. You've accomplished a lot, in the classrooms and in your lives. You've learned from your professors and from each other. You've learned to think and to apply yourselves. You've learned to live away from home. You've learned to budget your money and your time. You've learned about responsibility and how to balance your personal schedule, including working, studying, and last but not least, socializing.

Your graduation is a true achievement. Many of us may take for granted the opportunity to attend college, as we are surrounded by others who have done the same. However, having a college degree makes you part of the well-educated minority in this country. According to the US Census of 2000, across the United States, only about 25 percent of the US population over the age of 25 have received college degrees. In Louisiana, this statistic is only 19 percent. In many countries across the world, the percentages are much less.
Translated: You are among the world's educated elite. That's a big responsibility. Whether you decide on a career in the private or public sector, or decide to continue your studies, your knowledge and attitudes are going to change the world. And that world - just like LSU - is going to change you.

The best graduation gift that I could give to each of you is to bottle the pride and joy your family and friends feel right now. Graduates, please take time today to thank the people who supported you and love you. They have worked for you and sacrificed i­ and they wouldn't have it any other way. Today you're making it worth their while. Parents, friends, family members of graduates, we all are in your debt. I am personally very proud that my parents could be here today, as they were for both of my previous graduation ceremonies. I thank them for all of their support through out the years.

Naturally, we all owe our thanks to this special university and the faculty and staff who comprise it. Together, we share a secret. There is no place like LSU. Which is why I'm here today and why I'm always thrilled to represent my company on campus.

I should probably explain why one undergraduate degree wasn't enough for me. In May of 1987, I graduated with a degree in Zoology. In retrospect, I should have taken a few more math courses. I excitedly took my new degree to Orlando with the goal of becoming a marine biologist at SeaWorld. There I learned the starting pay, with a college degree, was around $6 per hour, less than half than what I was making in my part time job during school. My new goal became to eat, maybe not as much, but at least as well as Shamu. I considered going to graduate school, medical school and even vet school, but decided upon Computer Science. Soon I was back in Baton Rouge, back at LSU.

I learned a lot, and LSU prepared me well. When I graduated in Computer Science, I had job offers from several energy companies and defense companies. I chose Shell Oil Company and have been there ever since, making it 12 years now. I am fortunate that Shell has allowed me to work in various different positions over the years, offering me the chance to continue to learn and apply myself in new ways. And that is what it's all about: continuing to grow - especially important in the sciences, where the results of curiosity and discovery have brought the world closer together.

You see it every day. From cell phones to the Internet, your generation is the most connected in history. And through medical advances, you will live longer than any previous generation. But it's what you do with those connections and longer life that will define your generation and where our world goes from here.

Growing up in Thibodaux, I knew white Americans and black Americans. At LSU today there are students and faculty from 126 countries. They represent different races, different cultures and different values. And that's the real world that increasingly you'll be working in, living in and raising families in.

Currently, as part of a team deploying PCs in over 120 countries in which Shell operates, I work with people around the world. On a daily basis, I deal with language, cultural and legal differences. And I continue to learn something new each and every time. I've also learned that businesses that value and incorporate the strengths of different countries, cultures, races and individual differences simply produce a better product. Of course, I've done my best to educate the world outside Louisiana about beignets, seafood okra gumbo, crayfish etoufee, and, obviously, LSU.

It is important to note, that diversity is more than the country from which we come. At Shell, diversity is defined as "all the ways we are different". Each of us has unique talents, and is different in many ways. We bring a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. Diversity includes all of us, and all of our differences. This includes visible differences such as our age, our gender, our race, our physical abilities, and our appearance; and also individual differences such as where we grew up, our family status, our beliefs, our values, our education, our religion, our language, our life experiences, our sexual orientation, our work-styles, and our thought processes. Understanding diversity involves respecting differences and seeing how they can lead to creative ideas, problem solving, and better decisions.

The world you'll work in will continue to become more global. It will also become more business and communications oriented. Each of you has a strong science foundation. Let that be your springboard for personal and professional growth, never an obstacle. Again, my career provides an example.

I was hired as a computer programmer 12 years ago. English was my weakest subject. In school, I dreaded the thought of standing in front of a small class of students and reading a simple report. Today I spend more time writing and reviewing documents and giving presentations than anything else. I've learned a lot of those skills on the job, but LSU provided a solid start. Here, I learned you have to speak up and share your opinions. In the real world, that's what you get paid for.

I know LSU has taught you something about preparation and flexibility too. Those are great assets. A little over a year ago, I attended an Information Technology Conference in New York. The focus of the conference was trends in Information Technology. That day, while dotcom executives with fabulous job titles were sharing their vision of the future, the stocks of dotcom companies were taking their biggest one-day loss ever. By that evening, I knew some of those people might not have jobs or companies to go back to. The lesson: You can't predict your future, you can only prepare for it.

Today, the job market is competitive. But companies such as Shell continue to recruit on campus and are hiring. We see the value of fresh, new perspectives that college graduates often bring. My advice: don't be scared by headlines. Employment in this country stands at 94.3 percent. The reality is that you may have to look longer for a first job that meets your needs. You may need to look farther from home than you intended. But you will find that job and be on your way. You will see a lot of good and bad in the world. Be hopeful, be open. Don't fall prey to cynicism. Ken Burns, the filmmaker known for his documentaries on the Civil War, jazz, baseball and woman's suffrage, once said, "I think we too often make choices based on the safety of cynicism, and what we're led to is a life not fully lived."

Live your life fully. And that means service to others. Since September 11, we've all re-learned the meaning of service and its role in our society. It's firefighting, it's relief work, it's caring for each other, it's fighting injustice and intolerance. And it's also the hard work of education. Because learning is how people will understand each other and bring the world closer together.

You can do service by instilling the love for learning and formal education in others. And you can continue to support LSU, with your time, your money, your encouragement. I can't tell you how much personal satisfaction I gain from coordinating my company's campus program at LSU. And that doesn't count coming back to Baton Rouge to eat at Mike Anderson's or watch an LSU football game.

Be proud of your accomplishments. Be good scientists, be good people. Whether you're off to your first job or graduate school, do LSU, your friends and family proud.

In closing, a quote I once read sums it up: "What you are is what you have been, and what you will be is what you do now."

"What you are is what you have been, and what you will be is what you do now."

Congratulations graduates of 2001. Go be. Go do.

Welcome to the real world.