Commencement 2003

Home is kind of a funny word. It’s not that you leave your heart at home, but you carry home in your heart. It’s what you carry with you. It’s where you’ve been, and where you’re going. Something about this place just feels like home.

~Emily Ledford '03,
at baccalaureate

	Dad! Dad! Hey, Dad! Joe! ~Group of children in stands during Commencement as non-traditional graduate crossed the dais
Every day we must decide what is important to us and whether we will organize our time so those things are emphasized. Each day we have the opportunity to act according to the principles outlined in our personal mission statements or to go against them. Each day we must decide whether to devote our time and talents in service to someone else or to merely serve our own interests. ~Emily Bauer ’03, senior class president and co-valedictorian

My dad didn’t graduate tenth grade. He left school to help support his family and went on to serve in the Navy to support his country in World War 2. When I graduated high school my parents told me that I was the first of nine kids that they could afford to help with tuition. Although I have done many things in my life that I am sure disappointed my dad he never brought them up. He showed me the pride he felt on occasions when I did something that made him proud. Last summer, on a Thursday night, when surgery recovery had turned into life support, we all knew that he would not last through the night. He did pass away that night. I think if my dad was still alive, (my) graduating college would have made him the most proud. I will always be grateful to Southwestern for giving me a place and the personnel to teach me the tools to succeed at work and in life.
~Mark Smith '03,
professional studies graduate

There may be things about Southwestern he doesn’t know, but only because they aren’t worth knowing.

~President Dick Merriman, on retiring Dean David Nichols, who was conferred an honorary doctor of humane letters

Every problem is an opportunity.

Fix the problem, not the blame. Fix the right problem.

~Dean David Nichols

It’s all in the attitude. Live with joy!

~Steve Rankin, campus minister