I would like to thank Dr. Pappalardo and the selection committee for the honor they have bestowed on me by giving me this opportunity to share a portion of my vast insight and wisdom upon you poor captive souls. I would like to say for the record that I now really regret not taking public speaking when I had the opportunity …

I would like to start with a quote from Henry David Thoreau that helped me a lot in my life, so please take a moment to consider how the following applies to each and every one of you:

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be! Now put the foundations under them.”

So, why was I asked to speak today? Clearly not my good looks, or, as you have no way of knowing, my charm… One reason is I attended Carroll 10 years ago at the beginning of my journey to become a board-certified physician; another is that I am well on my way to achieving that goal, despite significant adversities along the way. But I was really asked because I am an archetype of a castle builder. My CV at admission to Carroll was: 36-year-old high school dropout, checkered work history in construction and farming, father of five, no school in 20 years, and financially strapped. I have to admit that I am still not sure how Dianne Bearr kept a straight face during my initial meeting with her as an academic advisor, when I, with great trepidation, admitted my goal was to go to medical school. Talk about a castle in the air!

So why did I accept the invitation to speak? Well to be honest, I was not terribly thrilled at the idea, as I noted, I never took public speaking and I am quite nervous in this position. But I feel a great debt of gratitude to Carroll for the opportunities it opened for me. I feel this debt toward Carroll because Carroll gave me my initial chance to show what I could accomplish. No disrespect intended toward McDaniel College or the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, they are both great schools, but I had a track record when I applied to them, I had shown that I was academically gifted enough and had the determination to succeed there. I hope that this speech helps in some way to express my feelings of gratitude toward Carroll Community College and what it offers people.

But I am by no means the only one. Just from the small circle of friends I built at Carroll: there is a single mother, a nurse, who has now completed medical school and is currently in obstetrics and gynecology residency; a young home-schooled man, my lab partner, who is now a chemical engineer with Exxon-Mobil, very successful; and another construction worker whose dream was to be a teacher, he is now a teacher with Carroll County Public Schools. All started here to build the foundations under their castles. All of whom at first glance would have appeared as unlikely as myself to succeed.

So now I want to go back to my opening line, a word, a concept, in truth a reality and that is opportunity. We are all blessed to live in a land of opportunity, and this is no cliché. It is my understanding that in most of the rest of the world once I made the choices that led me away from school I would not have been given the opportunity to change course. But we are not there, we are here! Lucky to be in a country, state, and county that have been willing to invest in giving citizens the opportunity to reach their potential, despite where they currently may be. Without Carroll Community College it is unlikely I and my friends I mentioned would be where we are today. A traditional college cannot just allow anyone to show if they can succeed with education. Carroll offers that opportunity.

Citizens and leaders of Carroll County have committed time and money to create this community college. Most counties in the country have not committed resources to this level of education. Here they have and it has progressed from space in the Center Street annex to the continually expanding and improving facility on Washington Road that I now cannot even recognize. I have to admit my favorite part of the college is the beautiful library where I spent countless hours studying and daydreaming, right through medical school. Many of them with my friends I have mentioned, as we spent long hours trying to tease out the intricacies of DNA transcription/translation, doing calculus, proofreading papers ad nauseum and learning how to balance redox problems in chemistry.

When I started here, I had concerns about the “quality” of a community college education; after all it is not a “four-year” school. I brought these concerns to some of the faculty gathered here today. They acknowledged that that was a concern of some people, but that it was up to me what I would make of the opportunity I was given here, and that I would determine what benefit I might get. Well, I am now able to tell you without reservations that Carroll is a wonderful school; the education is on par or above any other.

You and I were well served during our time here. This is where we have all received the foundational knowledge for our future careers. For my friends and myself: very technical and challenging careers, where a second-rate foundation would not do. From my years as a carpenter I can assure you a solid foundation is needed to have a sound house. Carroll gave me, and has given you, the opportunity to build an excellent, sound and life-long foundation, that will withstand whatever the future brings. For myself and my friends, Carroll was the first step; this place gave us the opportunity to show what we could do. Carroll was the springboard for us, as it is for many of you; for others of you it is where you finished the foundation to your castle. Either way it is an important step toward your dreams and goals.

Now for my “words of wisdom”: It is popular in our culture to celebrate the individual accomplishment, the individual triumph over adversity. It is popular for good reason; it is good to admire accomplishment, especially in the face of adversity. I am happily married, respected in my work, I truly love my career, and I have financial stability—and one day when I finish my training, financial success. I have the unstinting love and support of my friends and family. My accomplishments can be framed so that I seem amazing, that I have triumphed, I have succeeded and to be honest, there is some large measure of truth to that. I am the common thread to my success. No one took those tests, did the lab work, wrote the papers or came to class for me. I did those things! But make no mistake, John Donne is still correct, “No man is an island” or at least this man is no island. In no way did I get here alone.

When I got cold feet about going on after Carroll, Sarah Sayre, my biology instructor, grabbed me and helped propel me, well she actually threatened me with physical harm, to Western Maryland College, as it was then, to continue my education. Dr. Rick Smith and Dr. Louise Paquin at Western Maryland College, who—when my life took a bleak turn and I stumbled and fell, and all I wanted to do was go back to the safe comfort of my prior life—pushed me to not give up. They each in their own way, made me look hard at myself and why I was going to school, and I found I could not give up.

The friends I have mentioned, our mutual strengths complimented our mutual weaknesses; I could never have done so well without our study sessions together. For me the most important support has come from my family. My parents, who have carried so much of the weight of my life for the past 10 years I cannot even begin to say: countless hours on the road to baby-sit, babysitting, help cooking and cleaning, and thousands of other things. My wife, who was foolish enough to jump into my crazy life and provide unending support. My children who with tremendous grace, humor and maturity gave up their teenage misbehaviors and allowed me to concentrate on my studies when I needed to. All this helped me maintain my sense of purpose and sanity, without which I would not be here.

Now I get my reward! People call me “doctor”, I am an expert in a field, and I even get invited to speak to captive audiences. I have made it here not only by taking the opportunity but also by being given opportunity; by Carroll Community College, by Carroll County, by family and by friends. By the support of family, friends, and neighbors, some of whom I did not even know very well, who would stop me in the store just to say, “We heard about you and are proud of you”. You graduates have earned your reward by getting here, but did you get here alone? Only you can give those who helped you the recognition they deserve, that is the way they get their reward. If you happen to neglect sharing your accomplishments in this way you will certainly make your own life and accomplishments poorer.

There is no “typical” student at Carroll. Students here span the range from teenagers to senior citizens, but no matter where else people may try to pigeon-hole you individually know this: you have worked hard to get to where you now stand. No one took those tests for you, no one wrote those painstaking papers and reports for you, no one but you put in the time to study and learn the classwork you have completed. You deserve to be proud of what you have accomplished; you have taken an opportunity and run with it. Allow me to congratulate each and every one of you. You deserve every bit of pride you feel, and if by chance some of you are not feeling proud: you should start doing so right now.

I know a few things about this class from information the college has given me, but I know more about you than that. After all I am a psychiatrist; I can read your minds! It is not important if you are here because your parents told you to “either go to school or get a job,” or if like me you have a dream to change your life, or if you are here for personal edification. These are some of the things I know about you: Each of you has accomplished an admirable thing here, and will continue to accomplish admirable things if you choose. Each of you is an opportunity taker. You are determined. You are intelligent. You are optimists. Without these things, there is no way that you could have faced the difficulties, set backs and tolerated the pain that has gotten you here today.

Now graduates please turn around to face those who have to come to show their pride in you today. Would all the assembled friends and family please stand up in acknowledgement of the roles you have played in helping your graduates to get here today? Would the graduates please take a moment to feel the gratitude that you should feel for the many, many ways that these folks have helped you to get where you are? Family and friends, please bask in the gratitude and recognition of your support.

This is a much bigger day for you graduates than you realize. You are still too close to it. This is just the first step, it is the doorway to more opportunities that your lives hold in store for you. Continue to build that foundation and seize those opportunities. But at least as importantly, try to never lose sight of those around you, thank all of those that have helped you, be sure you are aware of their help, acknowledge it, and be thankful for it. Remember that your dreams are their dreams as well; while it may be your castle, without support there will be no foundation; do not try to be an island.

Thank you for your attention.

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