Governor Bob Riley
June 9, 2003
Good afternoon.
First and foremost, on behalf of the citizens of the great State of Alabama, it is my distinct honor and privilege to congratulate you all for your hard work, for your sacrifices, for your dedication, and for what you're about to receive:
A high school diploma.
And not only diploma, but one from one the most respected and innovative schools in the nation.
Judging by your curriculum, your test scores, and your chosen universities and colleges, you've all learned a great deal here at the Alabama School of Math & Science.
However, your final lesson learned on this campus is a simple yet timeless fact:
Hard work pays off.
Let that be a memorable lesson, for it will serve you well during life's many hardships, both personal and professional.
Perseverance is a virtue that cannot be understated.
But allow me to speak to the audience for just a moment.
As a parent, I offer a special thanks and appreciation to your families.
Seldom, if at all, can an education from such an impressive institution be realized through the efforts of a single individual.
It takes mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, grandparents, family and friends, teachers, and care-givers, all working in a combined effort.
The graduates here this afternoon remember all those who helped them, in ways large and small, and you'll soon see the affect of your assistance when they walk across this stage and receive their diplomas.
But before they do, I'd like to offer a few remarks about the process they're soon to undertake.
Change.
You all are embarking on a new stage in life, and change will mark every step of the way.
You must embrace that change, or be left behind in its wake.
Shortly before the American founding, one of its principal architects, President John Adams, wrote to a fellow patriot that,
"All great changes are irksome to the human mind."
I agree.
I myself am resistant to change.
We all are resistant to change from time to time.
Change makes us confront the great unknown.
Change revolves around a simple concept: Differences
Different places. Different ideas. Different people.
Differences may be irksome to the human mind, but difference lead to discovery, and discovery leads to limitless progress.
Regardless, change is hard to accept at times.
Change is almost always a bit frightening.
But if there's one fact that I've learned from raising a family, from running several businesses, from serving in Congress and now as Governor, it's that nothing has ever grown without changing.
When he wrote that sentence about change being irksome to the human mind, President Adams was witnessing the timidity and reluctance to change that was sweeping the colonies during the years preceding the Declaration of Independence.
Nearly everyone recognized the problem, but only a few were willing to face the facts and make the necessary changes.
Many were uncertain.
Many were protecting their self-interests.
Many lacked the courage.
Many were simply scared of the great unknown.
They were scared of change, and they were scared to change.
But if their reluctance had prevailed, our American way of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness may well have become
a forgotten theory.
But it didn't.
It's not a theory, but remains a great experiment in self-government.
And as with all great experiments, we're successful because we have allowed ourselves to change.
Americans aren't afraid of what lies beyond the horizon of our present condition.
We're not afraid of new ideas.
In fact, we demand them.
And from what I've read about today's graduates, they'll be giving us plenty of new ideas in the decades to come.
One of you here today might discover a new means of propulsion, and bring the stars within reach.
One of you might develop a cure for cancer, or discover a life-saving drug, or save a life in an emergency room.
One of you might bring peace where there is now only hatred and war.
One of you may write a book that changes minds.
And one of you may do something unimaginably significant.
But all of you have the opportunity and ability to be one of those individuals, and that's what makes America such a unique
and wonderfully blessed nation.
However, one day, you'll be responsible for preserving the atmosphere of liberty and prosperity that allows people to
achieve their utmost potential.
But in the meantime, it's my generation's responsibility to preserve that atmosphere for each and every one of you here
today.
If you're following the news, and I know many of you are, you'll know that I've proposed a host of reforms that I believe
will fundamentally improve Alabama's public services and institutions along with easing the burden on the working poor and promoting a business-friendly atmosphere for jobs and growth.
Your generation will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this package.
And that's fitting, because you are the future of Alabama.
You will become its communities.
You will become its education system
You will become its government.
You will become its innovators and industrialists.
However, you stand on the verge of inheriting a reformed state, or a regressive state.
The Alabama you inherit depends solely upon those citizens willing to vote in this September's referendum.
It depends upon the vote of your parents, your aunts and uncles, grandparents, teachers and ministers.
And, actually, it depends upon you as well.
Because you have a persuasive power no governor could possibly possess, no matter his intellect or eloquence.
For what mother or father could ever look their child in the eyes and say that they're willing to give them anything other than the best.
And that's what they have the chance of giving you by supporting this referendum, this reformation.
So, I encourage you, I ask you, become a part of this process, and become a part of this campaign.
Talk to anyone who can vote, and ask them, to please think of the future of their communities, their children, their family
and friends, and together we can change Alabama and offer you an inheritance worthy of your potential.
No matter what the detractors say, I believe in my heart and soul that Alabama is on the verge of great change, and you have a unique opportunity to become part of that change.
One person can make a difference.
In fact, it's not only possible for one person to make a difference, it's essential that one person makes a difference.
And believe it or not, that person is you.
You are all living proof of the potential that exists within every Alabamian if only given the chance to discover that
potential and the resources needed for it to develop.
Show our state what its children can accomplish when they're given the best.
The faculty is living proof that Alabama has the best teachers and administrators in the nation.
Show our state what its teachers can do when they're given the tools to teach.
And this institution, the Alabama School of Math and Science, is proof not only that we can achieve, but that we can surpass.
Show our state what its school can become with the right policies and the right investments.
But to bring that opportunity beyond this campus, I need your help.
Only a small portion of our children have the same opportunity as the graduates here today.
Most don't have near the resources, but we can change that this year.
Currently, only a few schools in the northern part of the state can take part in the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative.
We can do better than that.
The Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative emphasizes having students learn by doing.
Teachers learn how to engage students in solving real-life problems using the same equipment and processes and that mathematicians and scientists use to solve problems.
Such hands-on learning helps bring science and math to life for the students, and will help them achieve the same level of understanding and discovery realized by so many of the graduates here today.
And if this referendum is approved, we will finally be able to fully-funding the initiative and bring the program into every school and give every child the same opportunity and resources needed to make their dreams come true.
But before I step aside and make way for those graduates to walk across the stage, I want to make one appeal to each and every one of them.
About half of you are leaving the state for your college education, and I applaud your willingness to venture beyond your surrounding to learn and experience the difference that makes America strong.
But here's my appeal: Come back.
When you've learned what it is you wish to learn, and become what you wish to become, come back to Alabama and help our state become what you wish it to become.
You know you have the ability to do so; all you need is the willingness.
So with that, I offer these parting words:
Never fear the horizon.
Never fear change.
And never give up.
Again, congratulations, and God speed down your new road in life.