I understand many of you are already on a track to careers in the STEM fields, and I applaud you for your decision to help shape the future of science and innovation in America. For those who either haven’t graduated from high school or haven’t yet chosen a major, it’s quite alright – I’m still trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up.

As a native Pennsylvanian, I grew up admiring another Pennsylvanian you may have learned about in elementary school: Benjamin Franklin. Now I know many of you know of him as a man of all trades – an inventor, a statesman, and an entrepreneur – but what you may not know is that he, like you, understood the importance of civic involvement and used his talents to give back to his community.

One of his lesser-known contributions to society was the formation of a group in Philadelphia, known as the Junto Society. The group promoted civic participation and met regularly to discuss the issues of the day; sharing knowledge and finding ways to improve the lives of others.

Franklin was the President of the group, which was first made up of 12 ordinary citizens. Members included a scientist, an inventor, a mathematician, a merchant, and a land surveyor and each contributed books to the group’s library from their own areas of expertise. The group produced numerous essays and reports on ways to improve many goods we enjoy as a society, such as health care, libraries, and police services.

Ben Franklin, of course, went on to become one of America’s most famous scientists and a founding father, but during his ascension to national fame, he never lost sight of the importance of his community and held on to the desire to make our society a better place to live. And anyone who uses bifocals for reading or electricity for power can certainly agree that his life has made an indelible mark on our society.

But what makes Franklin’s accomplishments and devotion to improving our daily lives so inspiring is that he was the youngest of 15 children and the son of a candle maker from Boston. His modest upbringing and family’s lack of education would not seem to be conducive to furthering the desire of any man aspiring to become an innovator, however, his interest in the sciences and helping humanity is what ultimately drove him to change the world and leave our country a better place than he found it.

Through your participation in programs like SENCER, you may find that one day, your job can have an impact on the lives of others, and is so much more than something to pass the time and pay the bills. Everyone affects our world in some way, but it is your decision to decide to what degree you will. Will you develop the cure for cancer? Or will you build the first space shuttle to land the first woman on Mars? Each of you now has the opportunity to make this decision and nearly a lifetime ahead of you to make it happen.

And each of you, like Franklin, has the potential to gain the knowledge and develop the talent to make a positive contribution in your communities and in America. Jobs in science, technology, and math-related fields are some of the most important careers in our society and require the service of individuals who share the same passion to make a difference the way Franklin did. From building bridges to finding cures for diseases, nearly every American relies on the talents and abilities of these individuals every day.

And I can assure you – especially those of you who are pursuing careers in the STEM fields – that your talents are needed. Industries like health care, information technology, biotechnology and aerospace are home to some of the most in-demand occupations in this decade, and the demand for employees in these jobs seems to have virtually no end in sight.

Video game designers, for instance, are a perfect example of a profession that sees no end to this demand. Employment of video game designers is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2014, and with video game sales becoming a multi-billion dollar industry, the demand for these services will likely persist for decades.

And some jobs will be created through innovation, while others will be transformed through technology. Fifteen years ago, you would be hard pressed to find an IT consultant to help you fix your personal computer. Now, employees in IT are about as common as a MySpace profile and very easy to find. These jobs will require you to stay ahead of the curve and gain the skills necessary in our economy’s most cutting edge jobs.

Just as our jobs are being transformed through innovation, so too are our education systems. Last November, I had the distinguished privilege of speaking at the opening ceremony of Harrisburg University – an innovative university founded on the idea of delivering STEM education to students of higher learning. I understand that Harrisburg University is a supporter of SENCER, and I am pleased to see the collaboration of such important organizations that are promoting learning in STEM.

Through the support of groups like SENCER and the National Science Foundation, we will continue to promote the importance of STEM skills and the need to develop a broad-based understanding of math and science at a young age. You can rest assured that we are rooting for you to succeed in your pursuit of careers in the STEM field, too. The President is committed to enhancing our students’ STEM skills at all levels, and at the Department of Labor, we are in turn helping to foster the creation of higher paying jobs in related fields.

I will leave you tonight with a quote from Ben Franklin which I feel underscores the importance of the need for all of us to act on our abilities: “Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sun-dial in the shade?”

Thank you and good luck in all of your future endeavors.