During his investiture speech at the University of Guam on
May 21, 2008, Dr. Robert Underwood said, "A university’s commitment to the process of education must be founded on the desire to find the truth and searchfor justice. When universities think of education in terms of truth andjustice, then all else follows."
If you been anywhere near the Mangilao Campus recently, you
will find a place with students eager to learn.
It was the "natural choice" for them to choose UOG to pursue a
college degree. While you would think many of them are just from Guam, you would be
pleasantly surprised to learn that the students are from all over the region
and some from locations in North America and Asia. Each one goes to class each day focused on
getting homework done, preparing for a presentation and researching the stacks
at the library to finish that assigned paper on a myriad of topics from art to
nursing. It has been a sight to see the
"desire" that Dr. Underwood wrote about five years ago.
Introspection and discernment are in fact being taught by
the great faculty at the Western Pacific's premier institution of higher learning. The challenge to seek justice is not a cliché
for the students, but an attitude missing among many of those of Generation Y. What I have experienced first-hand from
Generation Y is the "why?" .
Generation Y is asking the hard questions, pushing everyone
else to pay attention and either help answer them or they will seek out those
answers themselves. We must pay attention:
New research on Generation Y reveals that
almost 70 per cent would buy a market leading brand if friends and family were
using it, making them major influencers on purchase behavior. A survey by Incite revealed that 61 per cent said recommendations from peers are very important when deciding to buy a product or service and 23 per cent would trust the
opinion of others on purchase decisions compared to 15 per cent who would
primarily trust their own decisions. In 2009, Deloitte and Touche reported that
Generation Y are a confident empowered generation with a sense of self-worth
and responsibility all thanks to their computer literacy and tech savvy. Even the Vatican, on the heels of selecting a new Pope, is looking for an empathetic selection for the papacy to restore the
values of faith, love and coexistence in the religion of one billion members
worldwide.
I am witness to the relentless search for truth and justice
by students of the University of Guam.
As a community, we should all be proud of the numbers that are enrolling
there. As parents, we should be proud of
their efforts to enrich their lives through education. As students, you should be proud of taking
that huge step and finding the truth in art, communications, psychology,
biology or whatever your heart is telling you to look at to further grow your
knowledge base.
The other day, I heard someone mention that a bachelors degree
in college means absolutely nothing. I
could not tell you if that person in fact had a college degree. I am not certain that this person does not
have or had a child or children that may have been attending or have graduated
from a university. It was such an
awkward statement-baseless is another way to describe it. I would disagree that such is not useful in
the ever-changing world we live in today. An education is so much more
important today than ever before.
We should be pushing more and more students in the high
schools to attain their college education.
While struggles continue to prepare them for such, our communities must
embrace the qualities that exemplify a college educated young person. Let us not forget that it will be their hopes
and dreams that will be tomorrow's great ideas in innovation and advancement as
a citizen of this planet.
Armed with the
tidbits from this particular blog post, certainly what will follow will be
something special for our island and our world.