Retired Senator John H. Chichester delivered the address at the University of Mary Washington’s commencement ceremony for graduate students Friday, May 7, praising the graduates for preparing well for an uninviting job market by earning advanced degrees.
“You are well-equipped to face the future,” said Chichester, formerly a longtime state lawmaker from the Fredericksburg area. “The most opportune time for new and exciting innovation is when things are difficult and challenging.”
Approximately 1,000 people, including graduates, family members, friends and faculty, gathered in George Washington Hall’s Dodd Auditorium for the commencement ceremony held to award graduate degrees.
A total of 240 master’s degrees were awarded, including 67 master of business administration degrees, 121 master of education degrees, 12 master of science in management information systems, and 40 master of science in elementary education degrees.
Chichester told the graduates that though they face a bleak employment picture, he congratulated them for completing master’s degrees that position them well to take advantage of the eventual upturn in the economy. He said their futures and their potential offer boundless opportunities.
“You are only one good, creative idea away from fame and fortune, because we all are potential entrepreneurs in the electronic age,” Chichester said.
Tap your ingenuity and your talent, he said. “As long as there are problems to solve…there will be opportunities for those who seek them,” Chichester said. “The magnet that draws us to those opportunities is the thing of value that you are taking away with you tonight—the ability to learn and reason and weigh possibilities.”
But, don’t measure yourself against another’s definition of success; success comes in many shapes, he said. Be unafraid of failure, he added. “The most successful people around have failed at some point in their lives—their richest learning experiences have come from that failure.”
Chichester concluded by encouraging civic involvement, urging the graduates to volunteer time and effort to improve the local quality of life. “Don’t let the opportunity to serve your community pass you by,” he said.
Chichester represented the Fredericksburg area for nearly 30 years in the Virginia Senate until his retirement in 2008 as the Senate’s president pro tempore. The Stafford County native played a key role in the establishment of UMW’s Stafford campus.
As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and of its Subcommittee on Education, Chichester worked tirelessly on behalf of education, securing funding for public schools and for colleges and universities.