Dear Student, er Graduate:
Today you will be one of 3,000 students receiving a degree during the Baruch College Commencement Ceremonies at Madison Square Garden. Baruch, the nation’s most diverse campus, is part of the City University of New York (CUNY), a group of 23 colleges and institutions serving 480,000 students in New York City.
As one of your teacher’s in the undergraduate Management Department at the Zicklin School of Business within Baruch, I congratulate you on your achievement and wish you the best as you begin a new phase in your life.
In your journey of working during the day, going to school for three or more hours of classes on two to four nights a week, then returning home to hug a child, kiss a spouse, embrace your parents, pet your dog, you’ve prepared yourself for the new leg of life’s journey as a college graduate.
Your hunger for knowledge, curiosity about how to reach your potential, willingness to push yourselves out of your comfort zones made my job as your instructor that much easier and a challenge. A challenge that made me a smarter, wiser, and more informed person.
You are a future leader, someone who will have followers seeking answers, making requests, needing your time, being curious about their futures.
You are stepping into a world that needs your energy, your enthusiasm, your commitment to others that I saw you demonstrate in class.
We need you, I need you, the world needs you to value your degree, to make the most of the entry level jobs and administrative work you will do as you climb the career lattice, moving sideways and upward on your merits and demonstrated capacity for growth.
Future leader, I offer you two pieces of advice.
#1: Know yourself, what is meaningful for you, how you want to be known in the world.
#2: Keep smiling through the tough times, the good times, the down times, and the up times because a smile is contagious and invites others to come into your world.
Thanks for letting me be part of your world.
Now, future leaders, go out and continue working to be the best possible leader you can be—we need you!
Best regards,
Prof. Henderson
