Congratulations!

Welcome and congratulations to the Class of 2013! Doesn’t that make you feel young to hear "the class of 2013"? 

Remember when we were kids and couldn’t wait to grow up? What were we thinking? When I was younger I’d put my arms in my shirt and tell people I lost my arms. I would restart the video game whenever I knew I was going to lose. I had that one push pen with the 6 colors and would try to push all of the buttons at once. I would sleep with all of my stuffed animals so none of them would get offended. I would fake being asleep so my Dad would carry me to bed. I used to swallow fruit seeds then get scared to death that a tree or plant was going to grow in my stomach. I would watch drops of rain roll down the car window and pretend it was a race.

Somewhere along the way, life became complex...as I’m sure it did for all of you.  How quickly we learned the very few things we could always fall back on no matter what. Education being one of them. No one can ever take away what we have learned from our experiences and our years of schooling. We will always have our internal reservoir from which we draw from.

On behalf of the IPRA Board, I’d like to commend each and every one of you for advancing our profession.  Congratulations on completing the first year of what is destined to be a legendary program for IPRA. The value of the Leadership Academy begins with the relationships you foster with each other. But that’s not where it ends. IPRA is committed to providing Leadership Academy graduates opportunities to network, socialize, and participate in continued learning opportunities long after the academy ends.

One last piece of advice before the trap door opens on me. Don’t forget to add balance to your life. There are a lot of workaholics in this room – myself included. Passion runs through our veins and when we get started on a project we will do whatever it takes to see it through completion, even if it means working 60 hour weeks or long, daunting weekends. When I landed my first position in the parks and rec field, there was one piece of infinite wisdom my father gave me before he passed away. He said, "Allie, no one ever looks back on their life and wishes they would have spent more time in the office." With that being said, please take care of yourselves and strive to add balance to your lives. 
 
In my experience, you will truly serve only what you are passionate about and what you love because service is love made visible. If you love your friends, you will serve your friends. If you love your community, you will serve your community. If you love only yourself, you will serve only yourself. And you will have only yourself. With that being said, do your best to love others and serve others and hopefully you find those who love and serve you in return.

Congratulations again to the graduating class of 2013! Life is a great big canvas, throw all of the paint on it that you can!

Thank you.