Everywhere I go, young people constantly inquire, “Dr. Jefferson, how have you achieved such significant accomplishments and what advice would you give college students?” That's what I want to focus on: achieving your dreams and hopes.
The first thing I have to admit is it has not been easy. You really do have to learn how to lean and depend on God. But you also have to have a dream, some hope, some aspiration that takes you beyond the present to what you want for your future. It’s called reaching beyond the present. I had and still have a desire to achieve. Even if you don't know exactly “where” you want to go, you need to possess a desire to “excel beyond your present.” Then you need to be inspired, because aspiration is not enough. You also need inspiration.
I grew up in Doyline, La., a small rural area just west of here [Grambling, La.]—dirt roads, no running water, outside bathrooms, and bathing in a Number 3 tub (something many of you perhaps know nothing about). There are 15 children in our family. I'm number 10, and nine of us graduated from college. My father, a Baptist minister, was a strong man and an outstanding role model. My mother, who is with me today, is 89 years old and will be 90 in December. Neither of my parents finished high school, but they understood the value of a good education and inspired their children to be somebody, to make something of themselves, to be their best. Without aspiration and without inspiration there is no drive, determination or will to succeed. Success comes to those who are willing to sweat.
And then you need to work at it. It's called preparation. And preparation involves perspiration. Preparation and perspiration always precede realization. Dreams and aspirations can never be achieved without preparation and perspiration. And then you get to the moment of celebration. That's where you are today. So, graduates, it is time to celebrate!
But today's accomplishments are to be celebrated with commas, not periods. As a punctuation mark, the period says “stop.” It represents the end of a declarative statement. But a comma says simply, “pause,” because there's more to follow. I urge you to celebrate today with a comma, meaning that there's more to follow! Seize the moment, but keep going. Make the most of your life. Don't stop. Go for your master's, go for your doctorate, take your life to the next level. Do something that will make a difference, make your mark in life, leave a legacy.
L. Frank Baum in his 1939 novel The Wizard of Oz, starts the story when a nasty neighbor tries to have Dorothy's dog put to sleep. Dorothy takes her dog, Toto, to run away. A cyclone appears and carries her to the magical land of Oz. Wishing to return, she begins to travel to the city of Oz, where a great and powerful wizard lives. On her way she meets a Scarecrow who needs a brain, a Tin Man who wants a heart and a cowardly Lion who desperately needs courage. They all hope the Wizard of Oz will help them before the Wicked Witch of the West catches up to them. But when they reach Oz and meet the magnificent Wizard, they encounter a remarkable discovery. And that is “what they were looking for on the outside was only to be found within.” What they wanted the Wizard to give them, they had all along.
You have within you brains, the courage and the heart and the spirit to go the distance. Cultivate what you have within! Sometimes up, sometimes down, it won't be easy but go for it!
And perhaps that's what Langston Hughes had in mind when he wrote the poem “Mother to Son,” where the mother says to her son:
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on
the floor
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
‘Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now-
For I'se still goin', honey
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no
crystal stair.
So, go for it, graduates. And although today is a great accomplishment, your best is yet to come.
David Jefferson Sr. is president and chief executive officer of JNET Communications LLC. The above is excerpted from his commencement address at Grambling State University on May 22.
David Jefferson Sr. is president and chief executive officer of JNET Communications LLC. The above is excerpted from his commencement address at Grambling State University on May 22.
By David Jefferson Sr