Dr. Hass; Vice Presidents Pineres, Davis, and Millerick; parents, families, friends, and most importantly, the Austin College Class of 2020, these newest members of ’RooNation, I welcome you.
My name is Andrew Dudasko, and I am the Austin college student body president of 2016.
I know it is extremely cliché to say, but three years ago, I was exactly where you are now. I was sitting right up there with the Class of 2017, envisioning my future.
I sat where you sit today, listening to a student body president give a speech challenging each and every one of us to grow during our time here at Austin College. Now that I am here, and you sit fresh-faced and anxious to get started, I don’t need to challenge you and say “become the best person that you can be or that Austin College is the best place in the world.” You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t want to be the best version of yourself or believe that Austin College truly is a special place. Rather, I want to encourage you to take advantage of the opportunities that this institution provides.
In my time here at Austin College, I have grown in ways that I never would have imagined. Never in my wildest dreams, would my time here have turned out as it actually has. I never thought that I would get the chance play college football. I never thought that I would study abroad and learn the importance of culture and humanity and what it means to be a global citizen. I never thought that I would be asked to do research with the biology faculty. And I never thought that I would be the student body president. But it has been through these and many other opportunities that I have grown during my time here. So, as I said earlier, I encourage you to take advantage of the opportunities that are provided to you, and I want you to look for them in three specific ways.
The first is Learning. The second, Growth. And the third, Leadership.
The first one, as I said, take advantage of every opportunity that you have in terms of learning. This sounds easy. You’re at a college. What do people do at colleges? They learn.
But it’s not that simple. While you can go to class and read the material and do everything the teacher tells you to do, you’re not necessarily going to learn. Only by applying yourselves, challenging yourselves, and pushing yourselves will you be able to get the most out of your classes.
But, don’t worry, you don’t have to do this by yourself. The faculty is there to help you along the way, and believe me, if you can’t push yourself, the faculty will.
In my three years here, I have had some of the most rewarding experiences figuring out tough challenges that my teachers have thrown at me. I’ve learned how to come up with scientific lab experiments on my own. I’ve learned how to ask the tough questions that most people would never think of asking. And I’ve learned how to have fun when you’re learning something that you know absolutely nothing about.
So take advantage of the opportunities that you have in the classrooms. I can tell you that a lot of these opportunities will come through the faculty. The faculty here care about you both inside the classroom as well as outside of it. They want you to succeed by doing the best in class but by also leading the most meaningful life that you can. So take advantage of the faculty. Take advantage of the opportunities that they provide you. If they want to help you, take it. If they want to invite you over to dinner, take it. If they challenge you, take it. So, take advantage of the opportunities to learn.
Second, take advantage of the opportunities to grow.
I know learning and growing are very similar, but the growing that I am speaking of is not of the intellectual, but rather of the personal. The growth that you can experience here at Austin College is so special. You grow as a person through your friendships, through your experiences, and through the hardships that you may face. I will be the first one to tell you, college isn’t easy. There are a lot of challenges that you will face over the four years that you are here. But, don’t see them as challenges, see them as opportunities of growth. I can tell you of one of mine. In my sophomore year, when I was faced with the challenge of failing Organic Chemistry and trying to start over—I took it hard. I went to my teacher and I sat on the floor and I cried. I said, “I have no idea what I’m doing.” But, instead of letting that challenge beat me, I allowed that challenge to become an opportunity. With the help of my teacher, I redirected my studies, and I was able to find out what I am truly passionate about.
Also, like I said, growth comes from friendships, so take advantage of the opportunities to make new friends. Everybody look to your left and look to your right. These people that you’re sitting next to are probably going to be your friends for the next four years, and maybe much longer. Cherish these friendships. The friendships that you make here are going to be the ones that are going to mean the most to you. I can almost guarantee you that.
While the people that you meet may come from different backgrounds and have different beliefs than you, these are the people that you will want to spend your time with. You will want to stay up till 2 o’clock having fun with them. You will want to go to class and learn with them. And you will want to grow with them. So take advantage of the opportunities to grow.
And then the last category that I mentioned earlier, is take advantage of the opportunities to lead. I know a lot of you will probably say, well, I’m not a leader, so how can I do this? But taking the opportunity to lead does not mean that you have to get in front of 300 freshmen to give a speech, but leading can be as simple as being a good friend.
Get involved.
Take advantage of the opportunities to be active in the community. By watching others lead you will grow as a leader.
And believe me, while it may not seem like that important of a thing to do, becoming a leader is the most important thing that Austin College prepares you to do.
Today more than ever, our world needs leaders. It needs people who are ready to go out and answer the tough questions, make the tough calls, and to do the right thing. So, I strongly encourage you, take every opportunity you get and learn how to lead. If that’s through leading in the classroom, do that. If that’s leading on the sports field, do that. And if it’s by leading through the organizations that you become a part of, do that as well.
And, I strongly encourage you, do not be afraid of the opportunity to fail. In my time here, I have learned that failure is not something that you should run away from, but rather that it is something that you should embrace. Failure is the opportunity to start over. So, while it may seem daunting and may seem like something that you don’t understand, find opportunities to fail. Find something new and try it. And if you fail at it, that is awesome. That means that you were able to overcome that fear. Overcome that lack of knowledge. Overcome that barrier that was holding you back. And through that, you learned, you grew, and you led.
So, I know I sound like a broken record, but take advantage of the opportunities. Take advantage of the opportunities to learn in the classroom as well as in life. Take advantage of the opportunities to grow, with your friends, with your organizations. Take advantage of the opportunities to lead.
Because if you take these opportunities and say yes when they come up in your life, I can almost guarantee you that your time here at Austin College will be so much more than you could have ever dreamed.
Thank you so much for your time. I look forward to the opportunity to serve you this year. I wish you all the best of luck in the classroom, in your organizations as well as in your athletic teams. Thank you, and Go ’Roos.