Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday! 

Over 1,000 of our bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. students will graduate this weekend during our commencement ceremonies tonight and tomorrow. These events constitute one of the greatest defining moments for our graduates and their families. The ceremonies provide a moment of transition that offers reason to be hopeful about the future, that yesterday’s dream has become today’s reality, and that what we can dream today can become tomorrow’s reality. To our graduates, I say, congratulations – you have accomplished a significant milestone in your life despite all the unfounded skepticism about the value of a college education and the baseless fear that rapid adoption of new technologies renders hard-earned skills irrelevant! 

As you proudly walk across the platform to receive your diplomas, you will feel the transformative power of your remarkable achievements. It is now time to envision a future and then go to work to create that future. You are now equipped with the skills, knowledge and abilities to think big and make critical contributions to critical challenges facing your communities. But you cannot achieve your goals alone! Remember that if you help others get some of what they want, chances are high that you will get all of what you want. 

Nearly all of you have identified your next steps: a new job, graduate education, long-awaited travel to faraway lands or any other endeavor that our graduates decide to try. Over 90% of you will start your careers with the highest average starting salaries in the state and among the top ten in the nation.

One of the greatest rewards of sending my Friday messages has been the feedback I receive from so many of our alumni who write to share their experiences as students and to tell me how their Rolla education led them to great successes in their lives and careers. So many of them express how S&T’s culture of value creation paved the way to their success. They almost always highlight the most important ingredient of their path to success: their network! 

Regardless of how talented, hardworking and persuasive one might be, we all need help if we are to achieve tasks bigger than ourselves where we can make critical contributions to critical challenges. Our ability to connect with others is essential, and our network of friends, colleagues and acquaintances can help us make those key connections. As graduates, you have already established an expandable network of your college friends, professors, project teammates, Greek brothers and sisters, and more. This network will prove to be golden over the years. Perhaps just as important is expanding your network to include our alumni and Academies, with whom you have years of common, albeit time-scattered, experiences. The alumni networking will be available to you immediately upon graduation through your membership in the Miner Alumni Association. 

I also find that the key to our alumni success has been remaining a “student,” a keen observer and seeker of truth. They learned that wisdom is acknowledging that they don’t have all the answers and that learning requires asking questions. Amazingly, but understandably, the most successful have been those who sought to understand the needs of others and helped them achieve their goals. And in the process, they were elevated by others and achieved their own aspirations. They walked side by side with others, and understood the value of teamwork, networking and cultivating goodwill. 

Once again, congratulations to all our graduates. I encourage you to keep exploring innovative ideas to strengthen your career pathways and to fuel your upward economic mobility. To get there, you must commit to the unwritten rules of success: continuous learning, leadership, and building and leveraging ever-expanding networks. 

Warmly,

-Mo.

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Read previous Friday morning messages.

Check out the latest news:

• Missouri S&T commencement speakers announced
• S&T researchers identify carbon release risk tied to rising seas
• S&T student elected to Rolla City Council

Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu