![]() ![]() Listening skills are enhanced through meditation and by adopting daily quiet periods which allow you to hear your inner voice and the whispers of the universe. If you are an accounting major, know the distinction between nuclear fission and fusion and the contributions of such scientists as Charles Drew and Edward E. For example, if you are a science major, read as much literature, poetry, and essays as possible. Continue to read as much outside your field of study as within it. Whether you’re graduating on not, by being at CCD you’ve sharpen your talent at conversation through reading widely, listening carefully, and speaking plainly. By the time you graduate, your ability to meet and converse with people from all walks of life will have substantially improved. You will have gained the skill of speaking and writing by practice. You may or may not realize it, but by Commencement Day, your verbal and written skills will have improved dramatically. ![]() ![]() I will be an event you will remember the rest of your life. To those who will be completing CCD as earners of certificate and associates degrees, I urge you to participate in the May 12th Commencement. Some of you will be graduating from CCD next week, while others will be preparing for summer CCD classes or other endeavors. Year after year, for almost half a century, CCD faculty and staff members have joined you in your resolve to becoming America’s finest by doing the hard, unglamorous work of accepting the rigors that all students must accept on the path to achieving success. Nevertheless, as inquisitive high school graduate or a seasoned worker or homemaker returning to schools after a long time that is exactly what you are doing. It Takes Hard WorkĪs a parent as well as an educator and college president, I know it takes hard work to transform yourselves into a refined, well-spoken, and well-read scholar. The end of an academic year is a fine time to pause, take a deep breath, and congratulate yourselves on your incredible grit and tenacity. The point I am making is that there is something truly uplifting in pursuing a certificate or associate degree at CCD that you know but may not stop to savor. If it were not so, every ditch digger would possess a Ph.D. It takes time and persistence to acquire new skills, knowledge and competence. In an age of instant gratification, it is hard, really hard, to commit to the oftentimes slow and arduous work of learning something new. In retrospect, the Smith Barney commercial carried so much appeal because it reminded us that nothing worthwhile comes effortlessly.įew things require more effort of us than the taxing work of thinking and concentration. Those who climb the ladder of self-development oftentimes possess greater staying power than those who enjoy the fruits of inheritance without labor. It struck a cord because people fundamentally respect and admire those who reach their mark through the rough road of sacrifice and persistence – grit and tenacity - rather than the easy street of personal connections and bedazzlement. Granted the Smith Barney commercial plug was contrived largely as a marketing ploy to set itself apart from the financial investment pack, but there was nevertheless something in that quip that had resonance and verve. Here was a company asserting that while other investment firms might be using fancy approaches to moneymaking, Smith Barney held to a time-honored notion that investment success could be achieved the hard, tried and true way namely, through painstaking hard work. ![]() The commercial ran successfully for some time because it struck a responsive cord in television audiences. Years ago, there was a popular television commercial in which the late John Houseman ended his advertising pitch by declaring that the investment firm, Smith Barney, makes money the old fashion way by earning it. ![]()
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