Our world is too complicated that we need all the ability we can muster to solve the great problems of our time. – John C. Hitt, president, University of Central Florida.
It was a quiet Friday evening as I sat just outside the reception area of Cresswood Suites where I spent the graduation weekend for over 2 000 students from America’s second largest university.
The University of Central Florida (UCF) is home to over 58 000 students, one of whom is my second daughter whose graduation brought me on my second trip to the peninsula.
I met Cedric and Eugene while waiting for my cousin who lives in Orlando.
The hotel was bursting at the seams with guests with whom I shared a common mission. Most of them had travelled thousands of miles to celebrate the achievements of their progeny and other relatives, all of whom were beaming with excitement seared with anxiety.
As the hotel enforced its no-smoking laws, a number of smokers were forced outside to “kill themselves slowly” as they filled their lungs with nicotine from both “tom” and normal cigars. It was amidst the fumes that I met Cedric and Eugene.
Of course, I put my health at their disposal by inhaling their second-stream smoke but it was the eagerness of their spirited, uninvited conversation and my own friendliness which restrained me from defending my right to breathe clean air.
Cedric was a middle-aged Caucasian whose wiry muff and pointed nose gave his voice a nasal tone that resonated across the courtyard of the hotel as he belted out his well articulated conviction on the range of issues on which he conversed without being prompted.
As guests entered and left with their tassels and other trappings of graduation, he nodded as he boldly asserted that not many of the thousands who would graduate would find jobs.
Eugene was a short, round plump black American who spoke with what appeared to be the southern slur that his every utterance reflected a sincerity that endeared him to me. Both he and Cedric worked with power companies across the States and in Brazil. Cedric was the typical confident American who asserted that if only President Obama would drop corporate taxes, all the country’s economic woes would disappear.
By the time my ride arrived, only Eugene remained to wish my daughter and me well on graduation day. We went over to Tower IV where she resided on campus with two roommates and her pet snake, whose cold, clammy coiled body contrasted with the intense Orlando heat that we had to endure for seven days. It was the excitement of her success and the fact that we were here to share this special moment that made the heat bearable.
The UCF creed highlights integrity, scholarship, community, creativity and excellence. These are the core values that guide the conduct, performance and decisions of this prestigious institution. Two aspects of the creed that impress me immensely are its delineation of integrity and creativity.
The former pledges to defend academic and personal honesty and the latter speaks to using one’s talents to enrich the human experience. Its motto is Reach For The Stars and UCF stands for opportunity.
Combining the talents of 198 000 alumni, 58 000 students, 10 000 faculty and staff, UCF prides itself on being the nation’s leading metropolitan research university committed to innovative partnerships, world-class research with local impact and the integration of technology and learning.
My daughter – who represented Barbados at the Carifta Games during her Queen’s College years, carried the Quantum Leap flag and spent her freshman years at Iowa University – and the other 2 000 plus graduates were challenged by university president John Hitt to see education as a lifelong process, to use their talents, knowledge and skills for responsible purposes and to use all the abilities they could muster to solve the great problems of our time.
As her mother, my cousin Ronnie Walters and I, flanked by her roommates, sat in the arena with a capacity of over 20 000, and as the procession of graduands commenced, my mind went back to the first sign of her physical prowess.
It was during the third trimester of pregnancy. I would sit and watch her “skinning cuffins” in her mother’s extended tummy. Way back then I knew for sure that she was destined to successfully mount many a hurdle in pursuit of her life’s dreams.
Graduation from the University of Central Florida was a major one which should hopefully prove Cedric wrong. Armed with her Bachelor of Science degree earned by her speed, precision and determination, another UCF knight will plunge into the world of opportunity. How will she conquer? One hurdle at a time!
Congrats! The world is your oyster. Fiat lux!
• Matthew D. Farley is a secondary school principal, chairman of the National Forum on Education, and social commentator. Email [email protected]
