Spring is a time of new life breaking through the old to rise and bloom, renewing the planet once again.

That is why graduation is so significant. It represents the blooming of a new generation, stepping forward to start their journey. This weekend, we will ceremonialize this in the conferring of degrees upon the class of 2010. It is the beginning of one journey and the dénouement of another.

This year, faculty, classified staff and administrators, whose combined years of service add up to centuries, are retiring. This is happening while the University is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Through it all, the constant that remains is that the human race needs knowledge to make the planet a better place for all. It is this idea that makes our occupation at the University so special, the passing on of knowledge with the idea it will be used and then passed on to others.

While I came to academia almost as an afterthought, with the bumps, bruises and knowledge of a varied life, I have found it to be the most rewarding pursuit. I get satisfaction out of knowing what we do here at the University is important, that it matters and takes on a life of its own.

An acquaintance once asked me if I regretted not beginning my teaching earlier in life, and I answered if that had happened, I would have been a different person than I am today, without the perspectives that keep me grounded.

I hope the commitment to imparting ideas not found in the world of conformity, never changes. If the University loses that, what separates them from the tech schools of the world? Although obtaining skill sets is important, the most valuable thing we teach here is the ability to think for one’s self. That is what separates us from the Chinas of the world.

The bedrock of this country is our creativity. Successes like Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the creators of Google, happened because there is a free thinking atmosphere in the States that allowed a thing like Google to become reality. China turns out tens of thousands of engineers and mathematicians, but it does not have the one critical thing necessary for innovation: the freedom to think critically.

So now, while I am preparing to leave on the next part of this journey, I will remember and savor my time in the classroom, the experiences and the people I have met while here at the University.

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