Dr. Sheila Amin Gutiérrez de Piñeres
Opening Convocation Address
September 2, 2013
El Que Espera Mucho Puede Esperar Poco
Welcome to the Opening Convocation for the 165th academic year of Austin College. Today, we gather trustees, guests, and friends of the College; incoming students; seniors; faculty; and staff in this beautiful chapel to reflect on the future.
Seniors will be planning and preparing for the life outside, but never far away from, Austin College. Those of us new to Austin College, including me, have so much to learn and to live up to. My responsibility as vice president for Academic Affairs and dean of the faculty is to advocate for and support the academic mission of the College.
Decisions must be made with the mission in mind. What is the mission? The mission of Austin College is to educate students in the liberal arts and sciences in order to prepare them for rewarding careers and for full, engaged, and meaningful lives. This is a serious charge. Austin College commits to providing you with a world-class education and opportunities to grow, laying the foundation for you to reach your potential.
What really is potential? When I was your age, it was a very scary concept—to be and do more than I thought I was capable of and trusting those who saw more in me. Now that I am definitely older and hopefully wiser, it is clear we must continuously strive to better our lives and those around us.
Reaching our potential means not giving up when faced with obstacles, not giving in to fear of the unknown, and embracing change. As W. Edwards Deming stated, “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”
An Austin College education will prepare you to walk into an ever-changing, or as I like to say, a swirling world, and come out the other side stronger than when you entered the whirlwind.
It will be the relationships and mentors you find here that will ground you for the future. The faculty members at Austin College are among the most fascinating, committed teachers and scholars I have ever met. I have an advantage over you in that I have been on campus since July 1 and have had the opportunity to meet individually with about half of the faculty. Each chat has been captivating, and as many can attest, I spent most of my time running late to the next meeting because it was so difficult to leave the conversation. It is an honor to have them as colleagues. I now ask the graduating seniors to give the faculty a round of applause in appreciation for all that they have done for them.
New students, please take advantage of the opportunity to learn from this faculty. To be honest, I am a bit worried for you students—how are you going to choose among so many great options? My advice is to take a risk—go outside your comfort zone and try something new.
The strength of a liberal arts college is the breadth of exposure you can gain. When you talk with your friends at other universities, I promise you that they will be searching for the good professors and fighting to get in the best classes. While they suffer from the problem of scarcity, you will suffer from the problem of choices. You have to decide which class to take, and how will you ever survive graduating without taking a class with Professor X.
This summer I was given the book However Long the Night, which tells the story of Molly Melching and community-led social change in Africa. We can draw from her mission: Dignity For All. Her goal is to empower African communities to bring about sustainable development and positive social transformation based on respect for human rights. She believes that through this mission they can ensure that every person—woman, man, girl, and boy—is able to live a life of dignity.
At Austin College, the faculty and staff are here to foster your curiosity and creativity. Reflect during your time here and work not only toward your personal success but be mindful of those around you.
Many of you are here on scholarships funded by the generosity of others who believe in Austin College and your potential. I ask you to never forget that those donors (for many of you that includes your parents and siblings) chose to participate in your future rather than buy a new car or go on an exotic trip. Your obligation is to honor their sacrifice and be mindful that there is more to your college career than you.
Your more immediate task is to follow your passion. Let me share my path to becoming an economist. In my day, there were limited acceptable career options for a young woman with Indian parents. Of course, they preferred that I become a physician. Well, I solved that problem by never taking a biology class after 7th grade. In hindsight, I do not recommend this option, especially after meeting the biology professors here. Second-best to them would be engineering. After only five minutes in a drafting class trying to figure out how I was going to draw 24 perfect letter “A”s, it was pretty clear to me that engineering was not in my future. (For those of you who are confused why drawing would be a requirement for engineering, this was in the day before AutoCAD and computers on every desk.) I went straight from drafting class to the gym; I had to wait in line for four hours in the Texas heat to drop all my engineering classes to become an undeclared major.
But, how would I tell my parents that their dream of me becoming a doctor or an engineer was not going to happen? In economics class, all I could think is “wow there are other people who think just like me.” Decisions are relative, and cost-benefit analysis is second nature. My call home went something like this: “Hi Mom and Dad, I have decided to become a liberal arts major but promise to go to law school. Love you, call you later. Bye.” And then I didn’t call them for three weeks so that when I called, they would be happy to hear from me.
The good news is that they recovered even though I didn’t go to law school. Yes, my life took a different path even after college. And, I wake up every day happy and excited to come to work. That is what I wish for each of you. So take chances, follow your interests, and work hard.
So I leave you not with deep philosophical messages—remember I am an economist—but with some simple principles.
1. Live life without regret. Try new things. We only regret the things we didn’t do, not the things we do. Of course, this is not permission to do illegal things! Don’t do anything that will forever negatively impact your future because the ability to think long term is also important.
2. Go outside your comfort zone. You never know what you will find. It might turn out to be your calling. From physician to engineer to lawyer to economist to professor to dean to VPAA, my path has been filled with many turns and twists, and I wish the same for you.
3. As every good economist will tell you, diversify your portfolio. Take advantage of your opportunities to learn new things, even if you think you will never use them. On average, people will change professions many times in their lifetime. Those who have choices are almost always happier than those without.
4. Respect others and be nice. The world is not as large as it appears, and if you aren’t convinced now, you will be once you leave Sherman. You never know who you will need as a reference or who knows whom. For example, I participated in a fellowship program two years ago, and it turns out the university president I worked for is an Austin College alumnus. And, trust me, first impressions really do matter.
5. Opportunity cost: Every choice has a second-best alternative that we pass up. Make sure what you are choosing is worth what you are giving up. At Austin College, the faculty and staff are committed to life-long learning. If you are fortunate, you will meet the mentor who will change your life. Twenty-eight years later, my mentor lives in Dallas, and I still have lunch with him. He opened doors for me, and I walked through them. I hope you will do the same when the doors are opened for you. Remember to give back and make your mentor proud by working hard and living up to your potential.
At Austin College your mind, heart, and soul will grow, so embrace the journey. Over the next four years, we will have so many adventures to share—some we will celebrate, some we will laugh at, some we will try to forget, and some will define us forever. I leave you with the wisdom of Gabriel Garcia Marquez: “He who awaits much can expect little.”
So don’t sit on the sidelines or in your room playing the next greatest video game—you can never recover these years. Incoming freshmen, take advantage of these four years; meet people, engage with the community, and keep asking why. To the seniors, leave regret behind, and go out into the world without fear of change; take measured risks and impact the world around you.
Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of your lives, and now we continue the journey toward reaching our potential.
* Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Major Colombian novelist and short-story writer, 1982 Nobel Prize for literature, b.1928