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The WVU Davis College was honored to feature Dr. Soji Adelaja as its 2008 Commencement Speaker. Please click “Continue reading” to view Dr. Adelaja’s inspiring remarks for our graduates.

“I am honored to be invited back to West Virginia University and the Davis College to be the commencement speaker for the class of 2008. It seems only like yesterday that I was sitting out there like you, waiting for the Dean and graduation speaker to get it over with so I could get my diploma and get the party started. I face a big challenge as a commencement speaker. Few graduates ever remember anything from their commencement speaker?s address. I know that most of you are not going to remember most of the things I said and few will remember anything I said. You have far more important things to do after this ceremony, such as enjoy your accomplishments, say good-byes to friends, and hang out and party. But there has to be a purpose for a commencement speaker because colleges and universities keep inviting them back to do this every year, even though no one ever remembers what they say. So my goal today is to, at least, say something, one thing, you will never forget.

“Before I get there I would like to start by congratulating the class of 2008. I know what it takes to prosecute four years of college: the hard choices you had to make, those sleepless nights in the preparation for those exams, and those difficult professors (as it turns out, I happen to be one today). I want to assure you, it is time well spent. I also know how hard it is to balance the great nightlife and fun that Morgantown and Mountaineer football has to offer. I dealt with that balance myself. After all, WVU earned the national reputation of being the #1 party school in the nation while I was a student and I helped to put it at #1.

“I want to especially congratulate the mothers, fathers, siblings and other relatives and guardians of the class of 2008. As a father, I also know what it takes to help support and mentor a young son or daughter through four years of college in today?s environment. Graduates, I want you to do yourselves a favor and say ?Thank You? to your parents and family who put so much time, mentoring, energy and money into laying the foundation for the wonderful lives you are going to lead. Graduates, you could not have done this without your family.

“I also want to congratulate the professors at the Davis College and others who helped shape your careers at WVU. As a faculty member, Dean and Administrator, I have attended 25 graduation ceremonies like this one since my graduation. Graduation day was the most gratifying day of the year for me as a scholar, teacher and mentor. Today, you are putting out another model of WVU?s brand with the knowledge and skills that will contribute to shaping the future. As a graduate of WVU and the Davis College, I can guarantee you that a WVU alumnus is as good as it gets. We can stand up against the best from around the world and this is because of the quality faculty that this institution has worked very very hard to develop. Two professors stand out in my mind. I can not imagine how my life would have turned out today if I did not recieve the attention and mentoring by Professor Dale Colyer, my WVU father, and Professor Dennis Smith. As my father used to say, when you help young minds, you are indeed shaping the future of society. There is no telling the impact of your work.

“I graduated from WVU nearly 3 decades ago. Like you, I graduated in a Presidential Election year and had no clue who the next President was going to be. The world was not in any less turmoil than it is in today. I had concerns about the economy and whether or not I was going to have a bright future. Terrorism was as much a reality then as it is today. The social injustices and inequities of the world that I felt so passionately concerned about have not gone away, they might have changed locations. In a way, the more things change, the more they stay the same. We are still dealing with the same issues, but in a different context.

“Like you, I was extremely idealistic. I was convinced that I, alone, can make a difference in dealing with these issues. I am a lot wiser now about how one goes about changing the world. As Margaret Meade wrote, ?Never doubt that a group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it?s the only thing that ever does.?

“Like you, sitting at graduation, I too was slowly coming to the reality of looking for a job, trying to figure out a way to be independent of my parents and make a life of my own. Like some of you, I even had some concerns about whether I was well prepared, whether I was ready to tackle the world and even, whether or not I knew enough to be competitive and effective in my profession and in the world. Again, I?m a bit wiser now

“If you are worried about some of these things, please get them out of your minds. You have the tools to play an effective and purposeful role in the world. Thousands of WVU graduates before you who had exactly the same feelings, but went on into the world and made a huge difference. Like them, you are going to go into the world and make a huge difference. After all, you are a graduate of WVU.

“One of the great things about being a college graduate is that you start making real decisions. The choices that you make in the next few years will set the course for your future. Your choices about those you surround yourself with, the place you choose to start your career and live in, the way you choose to treat people, how bold and strategic you choose to be, whether or not you choose to be a hard worker, whether or not you choose to be a leader or a follower, your choice of a life partner, and your decisions to be engaged in your community, all matter. Success is all about choices.

“You are going to make a whole lot of these choices in the next 10 years and I know you?re ready because WVU has given you the tools to make the right choices. My message to you is be careful, diligent, and strategic in those choices. Those choices will set the trajectory for your life. Let your vision and energy drive your strategies and your strategies drive your action; rather than your environment and your actions limit your vision. Also, do not let your life plan stand in the way of great opportunities.

“That?s not the message I promised you will remember. I have even more. Since I graduated from WVU, the world has changed and we now live in a New Global Economy. When I graduated, I remember being told that I should expect to have two jobs and one career throughout my life. That?s no longer true today. The average one of you may have as many as 17 jobs and 7 careers. What does this mean? The world expects new graduates to be grounded in their fields and yet open minded and flexible enough to create value in an emerging global economy. The world expects you to leverage your talent to build connection with other minds to co-create new values. The world expects you to be eclectic, and WVU has trained you to be just that.

“The world has indeed changed, fundamentally, since my graduation. Those of us who are scholars of economic development and the process of economic transformation have come to believe that the basic underlying driver of success has changed on us. Talent, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit are far more important drivers of success today than rigidity, over-specialization, focused knowledge and a lack of interest in diversity and tolerance. When I graduated college, people used to follow jobs. The places that had great employment opportunities were those long established cities and towns with long histories of industrialization and manufacturing. That is no longer true. The places that offer the best employment opportunities are those great places where people want to live. The majority of college students today first decide where they want to live, and then look for a job there. And if that job does not exist, they help create jobs. The mobility that talent has bestowed on the millennium generation offers great promise to society. It would allow a whole new generation of people and leaders to emerge who want to work where they live and play; who value natural resources and their environment; who enjoy trails, walkable communities, and energy efficient cars; and who will demand less from the environment than my generation. I feel very lucky to be speaking to a class that is going to help define America?s New Economy. It is your world, not mine. Go make it happen.

“I promised you that you would remember one thing that I said. Just to be sure that you remember one; I am going to provide you with 10 important pieces of advice to help you as you chart your course and journey through life. I guarantee you will remember one of these.
1. The world, as everybody has described it to you, will be different in a few years.
2. Being able to respond to change as an opportunity is not a barrier to success.
3. Think big and be visionary.
4. Don?t think outside the box – there is no box.
5. Always remember who you are, and never forget whose child you are.
6. It is what people heard you say that matters, not what you think you said.
7. The more you give, the more you get.
8. Success is not a goal or an end. Success is a way of life.
9. You are not always able to change what happens to you, you can only change how you respond to it.
10. Two things you need to know in order to be successful:
a. To be able to sell your ideas.
b. For the idea to benefit society.

“In closing, I again want to congratulate the Class of 2008. Good luck as you embark on this new chapter in your lives. I just gave you 10 important pointers, if you remember at least one of them, you will make a huge difference in the world.”

Delivered at the Commencement Ceremony of the West Virginia University Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences on Sunday, May 18, 2008, in the Coliseum.