You can’t stop what’s
coming. – From the movie No Country
for Old Men
This is my message for 2018
graduates – your future is coming at you at a terrific speed and there is very
little you can do to get ready for it, except get an education and use your
education.
There is an old saying that a
person needs to lead, follow, or get out of the way.
In your case, you will not be able
to get out of the way.
Is it possible that many of the
great truths that you graduates have come to take for granted are just not true
after all? Let me share three examples:
• First, you were told that loyalty
to your boss or your employer was a total waste of time and a relic from your
parents and grandparents’ generations.
Not true.
Instead loyalty may be the most
important factor going forward in getting and keeping that job that you covet.
Do you remember the key component of the state of Wyoming’s official philosophy,
called the Code of the West? To me, the
big one is “Ride for the Brand.”
• Second, here
in Wyoming energy is a big, big deal. You were told your entire lives that
America would be relying on foreign energy imports forever. You were taught that our destiny, as a
country, is to make Arab Sheiks rich as we continually import their oil.
Not true.
Today we are
a net energy exporting country. With
Wyoming’s wind and solar resources, our vast coal deposits, gigantic natural
gas reserves and new oil discoveries, Wyoming is helping the country send out
more energy than we are importing.
Amazing.
• Third, you
were told that manufacturing is dying in America and, no matter what you do, do
not get into that dinosaur business. We
expect everything of importance to be built in China. Surely the experience of Wal Mart and Apple
Computer would verify this.
Not true.
Surprise, the
USA manufacturing sector is gigantic. At
$1.8 trillion, if this sector were a country, it would be the 10th
largest economy on the planet.
After turning these three truisms
onto their heads, it seems like much of what was drilled into you over your
brief lifetime of about two decades was not as true as it was told to you.
So what
happened?
Just when
everything has a gloomy but predictable look to it, we find out that many
assumed truths in the world really are upside down. What you thought was true
is false. What was passé is back in fashion.
To a graduate
sitting in a hot, crowded auditorium pondering that biggest of all questions:
“What is going to happen to me?” well, I want to tell you that these times can
be times of opportunity just as easily as they can be times of worry.
And because of
all the above, that is why I write.
This annual
column to high school and college graduates is much like speeches given in
person. It just seems like this is an important time to peer into our crystal
ball and help you graduates in any way that I can.
I remember my
high school graduation in 1964 back in Iowa.
A future U. S. Senator predicted a long and gloomy Cold War with the
Soviet Union (Russia) that could last a millennium. No one in that room would have believed the USSR
would come crashing down a generation later.
Today your
focus is on getting a job.
But there are
jobs out there, lots of them.
If you are a
mess, then you have a problem. And
probably what I am writing is not for you.
If you are a hard worker with good
work habits and ethics, your future is bright. The key word might be
“gumption.” If you do not know what it means, look it up.
You grads heading out into the world of new jobs need
to be alert to trends in your chosen fields.
Employers are
looking for good workers. And they are
looking for good people. And most of them want to hire you for a long time.
They are looking as hard for you as you are looking for them. Don’t give up too soon.
I see a future
that is as bright as ever for the young person willing to work hard, make
friends and perhaps, most of all, “keep learning” as you grow in your careers.
Good luck and
Godspeed.
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