THUNDER BAY CAMPUs CEREMONY

Friday, May 31 & Saturday, June 1, 2013

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Graduands of Lakehead University’s 49th convocation ceremonies…

You did it.

Look at the wonderful things you have done.

You are transformed.

Before the eyes of your professors, parents, friends, peers, our community, and your University…   

You are transformed.

And because of you, Lakehead is transformed.

From your first steps onto this campus, to the steps you’ll take across this stage, today, your University is better because you are a part of it.

Lakehead’s vision is “To provide a transformative university experience that is far from ordinary.”

What do we mean by a transformative university experience?

Let's begin with a fact I am quite proud of:  60% of Lakehead graduates are first generation graduates. That is to say they are the first in their family to earn a university degree. This has an impact not only on you, but on your family, your community, the economy, and the nation.

This transforms our world.  

Today, you will step across this stage and we will celebrate what each of you has achieved while only imagining what wondrous changes you will bring to our world.

You have each proven that Lakehead students are far from ordinary.

You are unconventional.

Youare exceptional.

This is an institution where students fiercely grasp the possibilities for intellectual and social transformation that higher education provides, and examples of your accomplished spirit can be found in unexpected places.

Last fall, Scott Kress, a graduate of Lakehead’s Outdoor Recreation program, and Chris “Drooz”, a second-year Lakehead Political Science student, trekked to the Himalayas to make a perilous ascent. By chance, they both signed up for the same expedition to raise funds for wounded Canadian soldiers by climbing a twenty thousand foot mountain. They each came to this challenge from vastly different backgrounds.

Scott is an experienced mountaineer who has climbed the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. Chris is an army sergeant who is not fond of heights and who battled altitude sickness for most of the journey.

Both of them made it to the summit. Each displayed the relentless tenacity that sets Lakehead students apart.

They transformed others.

I see that tenacity in the determination of the civil engineering students’ Steel Bridge Team. This year, once again, they placed first in the Midwest Regional Conference to build an ambitious and technically demanding 17-foot-long scale bridge.

This weekend, they are competing in Seattle against many larger universities, including M.I.T. and Berkeley.

Even so, I’m not worried about them being outmatched.

In 2011, Lakehead battled these same two giants and almost 50 other top schools from across North America.

They surpassed them all and became the first Canadian university to win this American-based competition in its 20-year history.

They have transformed us.

This winter, our students took centre stage in the world of music.

Micah Pawluk and Justin Sillman won the advanced category of the 2012 Crescendo International Music Competition. 

On January 26, when the lights went up at New York City’s legendary Carnegie Hall, these two piano virtuosos gave a breathtaking recital that launched their careers on a soaring note.

Of course, Lakehead students thrive at sports, too.

This year, our ski teams were overall champions at the Ontario University Athletics Nordic Skiing Championships — the seventh time in the last ten years for the men’s team and an amazing ninth consecutive time for the women’s team.

On the hardwood courts, our Thunderwolves men’s basketball team slam-dunked its way to a silver medal at the Canadian Inter-university Sport competition. 

Excellence in athletics and academics is only part of the Lakehead experience. Our definition of scholarship runs much deeper than that.

It means venturing outside the classroom, the way Tyson Grinsell has.

Tyson, a Geography and Education student, developed a math-tutoring program for high school students and volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters, our Lakehead University student union Food Bank, and Best Buddies. And while his efforts have earned him the Ontario Medal for Young Volunteers from our province’s Lieutenant–Governor, it was connecting with diverse community members that had the biggest impact on him.

Tyson’s altruism is not an isolated case.

I only have to look around this audience to find more examples.

Lakehead transforms people.

I love hearing stories about you, because it is our students and alumni that give Lakehead its character.

In your quest for transformation you have fundamentally changed this University and we are better for it.

Without you, we would not be on the eve of opening Ontario’s first new law school in 42 years. Without you, we could not have established our new Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Mining & Exploration.

You have been the impetus for this university’s new mission statement that focuses on providing “an education that is about how to think, not what to think.”

We have tried to capture the qualities of the young women and men who choose Lakehead by creating this university’s first-ever belief statement. 

At the heart of this declaration are the words we believe that our students have the passion and drive to realize their dreams and succeed. We believe that our students want the intellectual freedom to pursue the unconventional. We believe in our students.

These changes are part of a fresh, renewed vision that reaches far beyond the bounds of our campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia.

Natalie Scalese, one the engineering students on our bridge building team said it best: “Sometimes what we pictured didn’t pan out in real life. We had to design as we went along.”

Standing before you in my cap and gown, it’s easy for me to recall the mixture of uncertainty, pride, and excitement I felt at my own convocation. During that afternoon, I didn’t see where I would end up, nor how life’s numerous detours, setbacks, and opportunities would lead me to where I am, today.

Allow me to share with you what I have realized along my journey.

Each detour is a learning experience.

Every setback is a teachable moment.

And few opportunities come twice.

Speaking of opportunities, I want to reassure all you proud parents out there that your son or daughter will have plenty of opportunities in their life and careers.

Recent data reveals that Lakehead graduates have very promising employment opportunities: Lakehead alumni have a 94% employment rate within two years of graduating—higher than the Ontario university average.

That said, graduands, finding a job is just one step in an ongoing process. Mistakes and missteps are an essential part of transformation in life.

You are ready because you know that excelling requires persistence and commitment — whether you are scaling a mountain, building a bridge, dunking a basket, or performing a concert.

You are unconventional.

You are exceptional.

Graduands, today, you are transformed.