Faculty of Arts and Applied Arts Convocation
June 12, 2003
Graduand Address
by
Ruth Vanderbor (2003)
Representing the Class of 2003
Mr. Nicklom, Dr. Bassford, UCFV Deans, faculty, staff, fellow graduates, and honoured guests:
There is a poster on the wall at the Sardis A & W Restaurant that has often drawn my attention. The poster reads, "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone." The author? Bill Cosby. Of course Cosby is a successful actor and comedian, but he also holds a PhD in Education. I think his statement is worth considering as we celebrate our success as graduates of the Faculty of Arts and Applied Arts programs here at UCFV. If, as Cosby says, the key to failure is trying to please everyone, then there must be an option to NOT please everyone. Pleasing others must be more than accidental or random; we must have some choice in this matter. We are here today as graduates because we have not failed in our present educational goals, but we did not get here by accident. Consciously or unconsciously, we have all made choices that have had a direct impact on our success. What choices have we as students made to please or not to please certain individuals or groups, to conform or not to conform to certain systems or standards in our society?
Now as students, we have obviously made a choice to please our instructors to some extent at least. After all, the instructors are the ones who design courses and assignments and mark our papers and projects, and they submit "grades" for our transcripts. Although we may not like the course content or the assignments, we choose as students to conform to expectations that have been set for us by the instructor, the institution, and the conventions of the academic world, even to the extent of abiding by the mysteries of MLA, APA, and Chicago Manual styles. If we had not done so, we would not be here today.
We have all made difficult choices: Do I go camping with friends for the weekend, or complete a paper for a deadline? Do I work the extra shift my employer has requested, or catch up on reading assignments? Do I clean the house, cook the meals, do the laundry, and shop for groceries, or devote yet another evening to meeting with my study group? We all know that we have often failed to please those we care about. We have often failed to please ourselves as well. Yet we have worked hard and sacrificed much physically, emotionally, and financially for a goal that is important to us.
I think we are all aware that we would not be graduating today if we were merely trying to please others. I hope that we all have come to the place where we realize that education is pleasing to the self. We have been prompted by an inner need to learn. We have pursued education not just for the sake of a job, social status, or money, or to please our professors, families, and friends, but for the sake of personal satisfaction and fulfilment. I well remember the day in my second semester here at UCFV that I suddenly realized I would rather be sitting in an English 130 class discussing Riders to the Sea that anywhere else. I had fallen in love with learning! The hard work, sleepless nights, disappointments, and successes have all been necessary steps in the learning journey. As we have today reached a milestone in that journey, let us value the years and the experiences we have had at UCFV.
For we have not achieved our success alone. I am so grateful for the help I have received from so many others. We are privileged at UCFV to have small class sizes with caring, supportive faculty who call us by name, read our assignments, and meet with us face to face. I have been amazed by the level of personal input that our faculty members have in students' lives and the impact they have on student success. I would especially like to thank Sylvie Murray, Jim Andersen, Bonnie Huskins, Jack Gaston, Bob Smith, and Don Chapman for challenging and encouraging me over the years. I would also like to thank the faculty and staff of the College and Career Preparation Department, with whom I work, for your unfailing support and kindness.
The majority of us have also been privileged to benefit from the help of family and friends, many of whom are here today. I'm sure that my fellow graduates join me in thanking family and friends for all their love and patience. I would especially like to thank my husband Paul, my daughters Wendy and Julie, and my mom, Sarah Siple, for encouraging me through many difficult times along the way. I would not be here today without you.
As we recall the help we have received in so many ways, and as we leave here today with a diploma or degree in hand, let us be mindful that we are privileged people. As we have witnessed the turmoil in Iraq and elsewhere in the world over the last few years, we must, I think, be thankful for the benefits and privileges that we have enjoyed as students here in Canada. Certainly many of us have experienced financial and personal hardships, but most of us have had enough to eat, money for food, shelter, clothing, tuition, and books. Many of us have received financial assistance from family, friends, scholarships, or bursaries. Even a student loan, to a certain extent, is a privilege that has allowed us to continue our studies. As a privileged person, I would like to speak briefly about another choice that I want to challenge you to make in the days and months and years ahead.
Our society has become enamoured with a definition of success that is based upon power, wealth, and individualism. The poor, the weak, and the dependent are out of sync with the demands of our fast-paced, technologically advanced society. Yet our world is in trouble, as we all know, with problems that powerful individuals or governments, wealth, or technology seem unable or unwilling to solve: disease, famine, terrorism, war, alcohol and drug abuse, family violence, and mental illness. Even we who are graduating today have no guarantee for the future; it is not easy to find a job these days, even for post-secondary graduates. If we define our success by western society's criteria of employment status and financial independence, many of us may be in for disappointment and discouragement. I believe that we need to look at alternative criteria for the choices we make in the future. We, as privileged people, can pursue success for ourselves and others by employing our hearts as well as our heads.
If, as Cosby says, success depends upon the choices we make about whom to please, let me urge you to carefully consider your choices. Let us not give in to society's expectations. Let us chose to not conform to a selfishly materialistic, upwardly mobile society. Let us chose to help and please the needy, the sick, the hungry, and the weak.
I was privileged to take a directed study with Dr. Sylvie Murray in which we studied a theme proposed by Michael Katz in his book, The Undeserving Poor: From the War on Poverty to the War on Welfare. Although Katz wrote about the United States of America, the issues are relevant to Canada. I would suggest that since Katz wrote his book in 1989, the war has shifted from a war on welfare to a war on the poor themselves. I believe that the poor are the last politically acceptable target of prejudice and discrimination in our society. Most of us have studied the battles over the last one hundred years to alleviate discrimination against minority groups, persons with disabilities, and women. While overt prejudice against these groups has become politically incorrect, I believe that our society's treatment of the poor still amounts to discrimination as the poor are predominantly women, persons with disabilities, and persons of ethnic minorities, including persons of aboriginal ancestry. Yet it is apparently acceptable to blame the poor for their lot; they are accused of laziness, dishonesty, and stupidity; they are classed as leeches who feed off society.
How many times have I heard, "I got everything I have because I worked for it; why can't they? I never asked for any handouts, why should they? If you work hard, you can achieve anything you want." Yet ignorance about the magnitude and causes of poverty is rampant among the accusers. The sky is not the limit for everyone and the playing field has never been level for the underprivileged. The Province of May 26, 2003 reported that 20% of all British Columbians are living in poverty. While this statistic may seem high, I would like you to know that in February of this year, I did a survey of the students in UCFV's College and Career Preparation Department in Chilliwack. Forty percent of our CCP students are living on less than $10,000 per year. These are folks who face the barriers of learning disabilities, low literacy and numeracy skills, physical and mental disabilities, alcohol and drug abuse, family violence, and intergenerational poverty. Yet they choose to come to school to seek a better life for themselves and their families. The reality is, however, that it is becoming harder and harder for the poor to break out of poverty. Our society has lost interest in alleviating the distress of the poor. As you know, tuition fees throughout the province have more than doubled in the last year. The Ministry of Human Resources has stated that its mandate is employment, not training. How are persons with limited literacy and numeracy skills to become self-supporting, tax-paying workers? Day care subsidies, training allowances, self-employment programs, and support payments to the poor have been cut. On top of it all, taxpayers label the poor as nuisances to institutions, governments and individuals.
My plea to you, therefore, my fellow graduates and honoured guests, is that we, as privileged members of society, consider our debt to the underprivileged. Rather than choosing to please ourselves or conform to upwardly mobile Canada, let us chose to bring a measure of hope to those who receive so little pleasure and compassion from society. Let us give of our time, our money, our talents, and our hearts to help those who need help the most. In so doing, I believe we will find the key to true success and personal fulfilment. In closing, I would like to quote the well-beloved prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light,
Where there is sadness, joy.
Gant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying, that we are born
To eternal life.
Thank you.
Ruth Vandenbor
