Convocation

Forty-four students from 31 institutions in the U.S. and abroad completed their senior studies at Semester at Sea by the University of Virginia and received their diplomas at convocation the day on April 24, 2013, before the Explorer arrived at Barcelona.

The processional of 45 faculty members and the graduating seniors began to the music of "Pomp and Circumstance" played by brothers, Adam and Geoffrey Ullerich. Welcoming remarks by Academic Dean Sharon Hostler, M.D., were followed by a student greeting by Abraham Wapner.

We Lifelong Learners nominated Tom Cunningham, an adventurous soul originally from Massachusetts transplanted to California, to be our spokesman at the convocation. Tom has travelled from Hawaii to Tahiti in a canoe, brought freshwater to villagers in Micronesia and Nicaragua for a dozen years with help from volunteers and natives and, with his wife Linda, travelled to all seven continents and around the world at least twice.

On April 24th, 2013, here is what Tom told those gathered in the Union of the Explorer:

I am honored to represent the Lifelong Learners on this special occasion. We are a diverse group made up of doctors, nurses, lawyers, educators, scientists, authors and journalists. We are also backpackers, sailors, adventurers, skydivers and bungee jumpers.

There may be snow on our roofs but there are also fires in our furnaces and you students have rekindled those fires in our journey around the world. We have been your classmates and shipmates and you have become our extended family.

We are not pleased with the world we are turning over to you. We wish we could have done better.

When David Brooks, a columnist for the New York Times, was asked why he was optimistic about the future, he said: “I have met the young people of the world and they have made a commitment to change the status quo and they have the tools and skills to do it. They are the leaders of tomorrow and their tomorrow is not far away.”

You are those students that David Brooks is talking about. You have seen the results of leadership at its worst in the War Museum at Ho Chi Minh City, in the killing fields of Cambodia and in the townships of South Africa. You have also seen leadership at its best in the resurgence of Burma, led by Aung San Su Ky and we all have been inspired and motivated by the words and deeds of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. You have also met the future leaders of many other countries in your classrooms and in their homes, schools, clinics and workshops. Hopefully you can build on these friendships and work with them to solve the many problems you have witnessed over the past four months

The time has come for you to throw your hat over the wall. In a commencement speech at Stanford in 2005, Steve Jobs told the story of his life from being adopted to dropping out of college to being fired by Apple Corporation, a company he founded, to his battle with cancer which took his life a few years later. Steve Jobs concluded his speech by saying, “I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life so I had to trust in something and I knew that the dots would connect in the future. Your time is limited so don’t waste it living someone else’s life and have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Tomorrow it will be time for us to part, and we Lifelong Learners would like to offer you an Irish Blessing.

May the road rise up to meet you

May the wind be always at your back

May the sun shine warm upon your face

And rains fall soft upon your fields

And until we meet again

May God hold you in the palm of His hand

Thank you.

Tom Cunningham in a tuk tuk in Rangoon