Good morning, it is an honor to be here today
to share this special event with you all.
I would like to thank Tarrant County College's
Board of Trustees, Chancellor Erma Johnson
Hadley, and the five campus presidents for
the opportunity to deliver the 2014 Commencement
speech.
This speech is truly a humbling experience
for me for many reasons.
You see, as Chancellor Hadley said, I was
just like some of you many years ago.
I was a Cuban immigrant and a first generation
college student.
My parents did not speak English very well.
In fact, I didn't apply to many colleges.
In fact, my alma mater had open enrollment
just like TCC.
So they had to admit me.
Despite being an ESL student, despite not
knowing what the FAFSA meant I graduated from
college three times.
Now I'm a tenured professor at Texas A&M University.
Woop!
How did I make it here?
Why did I graduate and fulfill my immigrant
parents Louis and Martha's dream for their
children.
By the way, Happy Mother's Day weekend for
the mothers who are here today.
Those are important questions that I try to
answer as a researcher.
My research is personal, it is not dry and
meaningless research.
To me I call it 'mesearch'.
'Mesearch' is personal because I want to understand
how students that look like me overcome so
many challenges to eventually graduate.
So today I want to share with you over the
next three hours what I have learned as a
researcher.
Just kidding.
Just kidding.
Just kidding.
So yes, I am here today to give my first commencement
speech ever.
So now I need to let you know I'm a little
bit nervous, excited, and very humbled.
You may not remember this talk tomorrow, next
week, or even by the end of the day.
But I will not forget this moment because
this is a true honor to share my passion for
education with you.
I'm going to take a little moment here and
I'm going to do something unprecedented.
I'm going to take my first selfie with the
entire graduating class.
So graduating class get ready.
We're going to do this.
Here we go.
Ready?
We did it.
Today's not about talking about my research
but rather 
to Tarrant County College graduates.
Today is a special day for all of you because
it is a day filled with happy moments, smiles
and laughter.
To be honest there are many stories that make
each of you special and unique.
As you look back at your time as a Tarrant
County College student you may remember it
was not easy.
Remember the time that your car broke down
on your way to class or when your computer
decided to crash and erase the last hour of
your most brilliant work.
Or the times your so called friends told you
you would never be a college graduate.
There is no doubt that earning this degree
had it's challenges, yet this morning, despite
those challenges and doubters, you are here
to pick up your college degree.
This degree may be the end of your college
career, the stepping stone to a four-year
degree at Texas A&M Unversity or Texas Wesleyan
or just your personal milestone.
Nonetheless this college degree closes a chapter
in your life.
Our lives are like a book filled with many
chapters, many characters, and many plot twists.
This college degree is a chapter in your life
but it is not the last chapter in your life.
You have many more chapters to write.
You are still writing your life book.
You see, your life book is part of a larger
library of books.
As TCC graduates you are special because you
represent the future leaders for Tarrant County,
the state of Texas, and our increasingly diverse
nation.
Today over 1,300 graduates are going to make
a different in their communities as nurses,
teachers, welders, public safety servants,
and business leaders.
All of these careers are new chapters in your
life book.
Do you remember the books you had to read
as a TCC student?
Remember when you asked your professor, "Is
this going to be on the exam?"
As your professor for the day let me share
three ideas that will be on your final exam
called life.
Number one, think bigger.
David Foster Wallace in a 2005 commencement
speech made a simple and yet profound observation
that we live very basic and boring lives.
He said there's a dirty secret about life
that we don't share with you graduates.
Simply put, life after college is full of
dull routines.
Once we finish college we settle down and
go through the same boring motions.
We somehow lose sight of being the author
of our life book.
We forget that we're still writing new chapters.
We have to remember that being the author
of your life book requires you to make a daily
choice to continue writing.
Each day we have to make a choice about what
we will write in our own books.
As TCC graduates and authors of your life
book you need to think bigger.
Thinking bigger means you plan your next career
and life challenge.
Maybe it's to earn a Master's Degree.
Thinking bigger means you have to believe
in yourself.
You will have people and circumstances that
will be barriers in your new chapters.
Like many courageous moments that got you
here today you need to believe in yourself
and never give up.
Thinking bigger ultimately means you need
to choose to act.
You need to wake up every day and behave differently
to achieve results.
You're still writing your life book.
Thinking bigger is not easy, you have to make
each day a choice to act.
David Wallace said we need to stop looking
at life like a boring, taken for granted routine.
As the author of your life you need to think
bigger with committment, courage, and action.
As I was walking here this morning I had an
opportunity to run into a graduate because
committment, courage, and action are represented
by Joe and his daughter Madison who are graduating
today.
So let's give them a round of applause.
Number two, go further.
The second part of your final exam.
Today is special but you have to think beyond
today, beyond your degree, beyond your new
career.
Where do you go from here?
Last year I decided to run my first 5K.
Yes I know, I'm not an elite runner and I'll
never be an Olympic athlete but I decided
to write a new chapter in my life book.
I will be a runner, of course when I made
this decision what running meant to me was
how fast can I run to the refrigerator between
commercials of an Aggie football game.
Two words.
Johnny Football.
Running a 5K was a challenge.
It required me to run further than I ever
have before.
Like any new book chapter I needed to do research.
I needed advice from other runners.
I needed a plan.
As new graduates you need to do the same.
To write the next chapter in your life.
Writing the next exciting chapter of your
life requires you to go further.
Going further means understanding your limits,
your strengths, and your resources.
As you leave today's ceremony you will have
a warm glow.
You will be filled with excitement and full
of promise.
Unfortunately those good feelings will soon
be lost, and the reality of life will hit
you hard.
Just like the pavement of the road.
To go further you have to know your limits
and do not overtrain and hurt yourself.
You need to seek wise counsel and talk to
people in your profession or degree program
for advice to achieve success.
Know your strengths and build from that solid
foundation.
Ask others, what are my strengths?
How can I use them in my new career?
Finally, going further requires the right
resources to write your next chapter.
I learned a valuable lesson when I tried to
run my first 5K race.
I tried to do it with three year old shoes.
That wasn't very fun.
To go further in writing your life book it
requires you to have self-awareness, good
advice, and the right resources.
Speaking of resources, I want to thank the
veterans who graduated today due to the G.I.
bill.
That's taking advantage of your resources.
Finally, do greater.
The last part of your final exam.
This is probably the most challenging part
of the final exam because it requires you
to think in different ways.
Today I want to celebrate a special group
of TCC graduates who were thinking in different
ways.
This is the first graduate *inaudible* of
students from the early college high school
program to receive their Associate's Degree
before they even receive their high school
diploma.
Congratulations.
This is an example of doing greater.
This amazing academic accomplishment makes
me ask you an important question.
What life choices will you make that gives
your life more meaning?
One day you will have to make a choice that
will extend beyond your comfort zone.
You will need to think about the bigger picture.
Like I mentioned before, we are the authors
of our life book.
But who will read your life book?
I want to challenge you to think about writing
your life book with the focus on creating
a legacy.
A legacy in your family may be being the first
college graduate.
A legacy in your community could be being
an inspirational teacher to preschool children.
A legacy in your profession may be being a
mentor to the next generation of paramedics.
Doing greater is leaving a lasting and positive
legacy to others in your personal and professional
lives.
What kind of legacy do you want
to leave?
To create a legacy you need to think about
it.
You need to have compassion for others and
you need to serve others.
In our hectic lives we often forget that we
are one book among many other books.
Sometimes we need to read and appreciate other
books to leave a legacy.
After the graduation ceremony do not forget
to do greater requires you to think beyond
yourself.
So today I hope you've learned what's going
to be on the final exam called life.
You've earned your degree but this is just
the beginning.
Just like my immigratn parents encouraged
me, we need to think bigger, go further, and
do greater.
Now let's graduate and write the next chapter
in our life book.
I look forward to reading your book.
