In Kandahar province, Afghanistan, a non-commissioned officer from the Female Engagement Team senses something isn’t right and directs the infantry platoon away from a 500-pound IED, saving the lives of a dozen soldiers.īut, if you think about it, not only were these soldiers saved by the decisions of one person, but their children yet unborn were also saved. I saw it happen every day in Iraq and Afghanistan: A young Army officer makes a decision to go left instead of right down a road in Baghdad and the 10 soldiers in his squad are saved from close-in ambush. If you think it’s hard to change the lives of 10 people - change their lives forever - you’re wrong. Go one more generation and you can change the entire population of the world - eight billion people. But, if every one of you changed the lives of just 10 people - and each one of those folks changed the lives of another 10 people - just 10 - then in five generations - 125 years - the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people.Ĩ00 million people - think of it - over twice the population of the United States. That great paragon of analytical rigor, Ask.Com, says that the average American will meet 10,000 people in their lifetime. Tonight there are almost 8,000 students graduating from UT. The University’s slogan is, “What starts here changes the world.” I have to admit - I kinda like it. So, acknowledging that fact, if I can’t make this commencement speech memorable, I will at least try to make it short. I remember I had a serious girlfriend, whom I later married - that’s important to remember by the way - and I remember that I was getting commissioned in the Navy that day.īut of all the things I remember, I don’t have a clue who the commencement speaker was that evening, and I certainly don’t remember anything they said. I remember I had throbbing headache from a party the night before. I remember a lot of things about that day. It’s been almost 37 years to the day that I graduated from UT. “President Powers, Provost Fenves, Deans, members of the faculty, family and friends and most importantly, the class of 2014.
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