Cozies 4 Chemo - Our Lady of Good Counsel

June 21, 2012 | Issue 3 | Vol. 4www.olgcnj.orgThe Good Counsel Courier | 3Deacon Jim with his brother Father William Grogan, son Will, and Dr. Linda Dix.The graduate with sons Will, Jim and Tommy.Commencement Address by Deacon Jim GroganOn my very first night of class here at LaSalle, while introducingourselves, my new professor and now good friend Father Frank Bernaasked about the Villanova Wildcat logo on my shirt; to paraphrase FatherFrank, he advised that I not make that mistake again! So began myunderstanding of the passion of this wonderful community in our LaSalleidentity!Brother President, honored guests, deans, esteemed faculty andadministration, family and friends, and my fellow LaSalle graduates: thankyou for all that you have done to create the unique LaSalle experiencewhich we share as a community this morning.I am particularly humbled to speak with my fellow graduates today,to represent your voice within this gathering. To have earned a graduatedegree reflects a commitment to advancing our respective areas of study,whether that may be in science, nursing, business, or the arts. To haveachieved this success at LaSalleUniversity places each of us ina unique position. In preparingthis commencement address,I wanted to consider twoquestions with you: first, what does it mean to have pursued an advancedgraduate degree, and in particular, what does it say about us that we havechosen LaSalle University as our academic home for this study?To answer this first question about chasing our dream of a graduatedegree, permit me to share my journey. My own time at LaSalle hasparalleled my three sons’ undergraduate studies. Since beginning mystudies, my oldest son has graduated from college. This month, my secondson completed his junior year; and I had the special privilege of beingjoined at LaSalle by my youngest son as a freshman this past September.More than once, wearing my “parent” hat and reviewing papers my sonswere working on, I promised I wouldn’t turn them into graduate papers.With that promise, I came to realize an essential difference betweenundergraduate and graduate work is found in the footnotes, and I believethat how we view footnotes serves as a metaphor for what lies ahead foreach of us.Undergraduates want to correctly cite footnotes; they perhaps becomea technical detail to complete their papers.As graduate students, footnotes become so much more than anafterthought: they are an invitation, and we have pursued them. Thenotation in a text book or journal article becomes that invitation to gobeyond, to reach out for a depth of understanding that sets us apart inour respective field. We may have accepted those invitations in orderto find the next link between our interest and our expertise. We mayhave looked for new connections between others’ research and our ownunderstanding.In pursuing an advanced degree, we made the conscious choice togo beyond, to reach higher, asking questions of both our professors andourselves. In questioning our own direction and pushing ourselves todeeper understanding – in following the footnotes – we build a foundationfor seeing the future differently. By extending and challenging ourselvesacademically, we find ourselves today as agents of change in the world.Now, I believe that the second question is perhaps more importantthan the first: we chose to pursue our graduate studies at LaSalleUniversity. We come to LaSalle from diverse backgrounds. One, two, fiveor more years ago, we chose this university as our own special place oflearning. Perhaps we continued to graduate work from undergraduatestudy at LaSalle; perhaps many years separated your last classroomexperience from your first class in Olney, Wister or College Hall, in theCommunication Center, West Campus, or the Bucks or MontgomeryCounty Centers.In just a few minutes, our choice of LaSalle becomes a matter of publicrecord, as we are to be awarded degrees earned through hours of study,hundreds of written pages, countless books and – most notably – earnedin the company of new friends among both our fellow students and ourprofessors.We join together today to celebrate what has been accomplished hereat LaSalle. In our lives, each“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go,instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.”of us chooses what should behighlighted for others by ourwords and actions, by ourscholarship, our expertise andour friendship.When we individually chose LaSalle some years ago, we did not makea conscious choice to become an ambassador for this Catholic university.Planned or accidental, that is the position we find ourselves in today.In the tradition of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, we carry with us aspirit of faith, and of service to and within our communities. As we haveheard often during our time at LaSalle, we are called to “… rememberthat we are in the holy presence of God.”Learning by its nature calls for a transformation of the student. Part ofour transformation as women and men in this world is to carry the spiritof De La Salle beyond these walls; to know that wherever we may go,wherever our vocations may propel us, in our jobs, our homes, in halls ofscience and government, at kitchen tables and in board rooms, we are inthe holy presence of God. Reflecting that presence in all we do echoesour membership in the LaSalle community.I offer this challenge to my fellow graduates: continue pursuing thefootnotes in our professional and personal lives; go beyond; reach formore; ask the challenging questions of our colleagues, our civic leaders,our Church leaders, and especially of ourselves. In doing so, we not onlyexplore existing connections, but we create new footnotes.May each of us – as graduates, colleagues and friends – embrace thefoundation built here at LaSalle University; may we teach and learn fromeach other, creating new paths and becoming footnotes for those we willmeet in the years ahead, and for those who will follow us at LaSalle.Let me close with this thought: Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Donot follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no pathand leave a trail.” Our learning is never done, but our paths throughLaSalle give us a strong foundation. Let us go forward as leaders, aswomen and men with passion and confidence, changing the world withthe new trails we forge!Thank you, and congratulations to all the graduates of the class of2012!