Commencement Address at Drexel University

REMARKS BY:	Steven Galson, Acting Surgeon General
PLACE:	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DATE:	Saturday, June 14, 2008

Commencement Address at Drexel University

Remarks as prepared; not a transcript.

RADM Steven K. Galson, M.D., MPH
Acting Surgeon General
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Commencement Address at Drexel University

June 14, 2008
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Thank you, Dean Gold for that gracious introduction.

I am thrilled to be here with you today and deeply humbled at the honor.

To you...and to Drexel faculty and staff, parents, families, graduates guests and friends:

Lucky for you, this is already my THIRD graduation this year, so I didn’t need much coaching to keep it short – don’t worry about being here until sunset.

As you may have heard, I completed my internal medical residency at the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1986. Although that august institution no longer exists, I know its spirit lives on here at Drexel and I appreciate the opportunity to foster that great spirit.

My grandfather Henry Galson, an immigrant from Germany, taught Drexel engineering students back in the early 1930s..., so I recognize the deep roots of this great university in the life and history of the Philadelphia area.

My first graduation this season was a special treat – to see my own daughter get her undergraduate degree... that ceremony gave me a crash course in the importance of graduation speech brevity...next I participated in graduation ceremonies at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, helping to send off the doctors, nurses and other health professionals that joined the ranks of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Public Health Service...and saw among the class an inspirational selflessness that drives them to serve the public, treat the sick and in some cases put their very lives at risk at the same time.

Graduation speeches are frequently about advice:

At home with my three teenagers I provide unsolicited advice all the time.

My family recipients of this unsolicited advice rarely lift their gaze from the sports pages of the Washington Post...or I am received with a “ Whatever you say dad,” that I have come to dread.

So it is fantastic to look out and see all your receptive faces without the newspaper in the middle.

Thank you for permitting me the liberty of offering some unsolicited advice to today’s graduates:

Whether you are an undergrad or graduate student

No matter the academic program from which you will receive your degree today,

Your degree is hard-earned and therefore very special.

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF THIS DAY.

You and your families have every reason to be PROUD.

Of course, your pride is accompanied by a real and profound RESPONSIBILITY.

I believe - like so many graduation speakers before me that much is demanded of you.

I am talking about considering a career in public service.

You will leave here today with the skills, the energy, the credentials and the wherewithal to shape the future of thousands of people whose names you may never know.

You have the chance to make a real difference in the lives of

Your neighbors,

Your community,

Our nation and world.

As Acting Surgeon General, I serve as our nation’s chief “health educator” - responsible for giving Americans the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce the risk of illness and injury,

I also oversee the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, a uniformed force of 6000 officers working all over the world to promote, protect, and advance the health and safety of the people of the United States.

We work all over the world:

from controlling of the HIV epidemic in Africa
to providing health care to native Americans,
to assuring the safety of America’s food and drug supply,
to leading emergency preparedness efforts all over this country

I urge every graduate, every student here today to consider a career in the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service. You can find out more as usphs.gov

Whatever your choice – and whether you receive a Masters degree in Public Health , a nursing degree, an undergraduate degree in Hospitality or Sport Management, or any number of other academic honors today -

You can help people learn to help themselves and improve their years and quality of life. You CAN make the world a better place.

As a citizen activist of any stripe or as a public health practitioner or nursing professional you can help me as the Surgeon General and you can improve the quality of life around the world by talking about:

value of healthy choices;
many enduring benefits of daily physical activity;
the multi-dimensional threats represented by child overweight and obesity; tobacco use; substance abuse and the
need for improvements in health literacy
Graduates of ANY discipline - EVERYONE – can play a role in helping to create a healthier Nation.

I can’t tell you exactly what your role will be but I can tell you to seize the moment, find own role and focus on it like a laser beam.

As you pursue your dreams, don’t neglect your life outside your chosen profession.

I urge you to always take the time, MAKE THE TIME, to celebrate life, just as we celebrate your accomplishments today.

Don’t ignore the value of having fun.

It’s part of a healthy mind and a healthy body.

Much of health and well-being is a result of individual decisions we and others consciously make.

Mohandas Ghandi said: You must be the change you want to see in the world

Quite simply, the only restrictions on the contributions that you make to improving this country - to helping those less fortunate than you - are those limits that you place on yourself.

As you move forward and in life - and I know many of you have a certain career path in mind - prepare to be surprised by the path, over time, you actually take.

Imagine your future and work steadily towards it:

The function, the role, the power of imagination is not emphasized enough in our education...close your eyes and dream, take a deep breath, lie back and look at the clouds passing overhead...where do you want to be when you’re lying back looking at the clouds in 20 years?

You will receive a degree today, but your lifetime of learning is just beginning.

Get ready, be willing, remain anxious to learn and apply useful information for the next 50 years.

The degree of technological change and innovation you will see during your lifetimes is likely to make the changes of the past 20 years seem minor by comparison.

Remember that people in need, from Allentown to Cape Town, can always use what you have.

What holds so many of us back is a reluctance to imagine.

I am often asked for career advice and I always say the same thing. No gimmicks, no tricks,

You will get ahead in your careers by working hard and achieving success in whatever endeavor you’re working in, whether that is an entry-level job or a manager of others...and having other people notice that you possess the combination of ability and toughness.

You, our newest graduates – many of whom will make up the FUTURE FACE OF all the professions you represent – You are positioned to lead the transformation in how we prevent disease, manage technological innovation and care for sick people.

I cannot think of a nobler use of your skills and time.

I challenge you to map out a course of action and demonstrate the character and constancy required to help achieve it.

Keep thinking critically. Keep innovating and collaborating. Build bridges, not barriers.

Keep asking the right questions: those that need to be answered, not just those that can be easily answered. Your success in asking - and answering - the right questions will be measured in the future of Pennsylvania and of our Nation.

My career path has been anything but straight...I decided late in my undergraduate career that my future was in medicine, but this late decision and the serendipitous swirl of experiences that resulted from my career path – far from traditional for a physician – made me a broader, more understanding, more resilient and more idealistic person.

Life throws us curves, the road to success can be long. It can be rough. Everyone falls in a rut or pothole. All of us have fallen down at some point in our lives or careers but what distinguishes successful people is their capacity to brush the dust off and continue forward. Don’t let those bumps blurr a focus on where you’re going and how you want to get there.

Winston Churchill said that “ History will be kind to me because I intend to write it.

Graduates, write YOUR history, lean through the curves and come around standing erect and moving forward toward your goal.

You have received a precious gift in this education.

Yes, Make your parents and teachers proud, but more importantly make a difference

Give back to society...give back to a country and a world that searches for solutions, from the terrible burden of health disparities in this country, to global climate change, poverty and hate and disease...

How are you going to contribute to addressing these problems and have an impact to tell future graduates about?

With your idealism, optimism and drive you can and will make a difference.

Start writing your histories TODAY

Thank you and congratulations.

###

Last revised: March 23, 2009