Students encouraged to grow, reach, dream

 

 

 

 

PULLMAN – Speaking at Friday’s university convocation, WSU President Elson S. Floyd told the newest contingent of incoming Cougs, “I am excited and ready to begin this journey with you.”

More than 2,500 students, parents, faculty and staff filled the west end of Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum for an hour-long program that included  welcome remarks, tips for success and, of course, the Cougar fight song.

Standing at the podium in his academic regalia, Floyd told the students, “A WSU education is a transformative one, fostering personal and intellectual growth.” It is about passion and dreams, he said. “It is about thinking beyond yourself and taking advantage of every opportunity that presents itself to you.”

The importance of seizing the day was emphasized by Dean of Students Lucy Loera-Herrera.

“These next few years will be a time of great academic and personal growth,” she said, and it is up to each student to make the most of his or her college experience.

“On this day,” she said, “you assume the responsibility to be the best Cougar you can be” so that you, too, can go out in the world and make it a better place.

Loera-Herrera’s remarks were followed by a video presentation featuring highlights of several successful student projects, including efforts to provide bikes to low-income children, build a playground at a low-income apartment project, build bicycle-powered water pumps for villages in Malawi and mentor students through the CASHE organization.

Never underestimate the power of a big idea, said Assistant Professor Carol Anelli from the College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences. As students at WSU, she said, those in the audience would be contributing to the scholarship and research that is the foundation of new knowledge.

Anelli talked about several big ideas that have had far-reaching implications, including Darwin’s theory of evolution.

“For some people this is still a radical idea,” Anelli said, but ideas first put forward in Darwin’s writings can be found all around us, shaping research and scholarship in fields as diverse as plant science, economics, political science and human development.

“Big ideas often have a very broad reach,” she said. “WSU is a place where big ideas abound.”

Anelli also paid tribute to her mother, who will turn 89 years old on Sunday. Her parents, she said, also will be celebrating their 68th wedding anniversary on Sunday.

The secret to a happy marriage truly does seem to be somewhat of a secret, she said, but there is no secret about what makes a successful college experience.

Anelli provided the students with six tips for success:
1. Get involved.
2. Attend class and talk with your professors.
3. Seek help early.
4. Cultivate global competencies.
5. Broaden your horizons with classes outside your major.
6. Call or e-mail your parents regularly.

The crowd then rose to sing the WSU alma mater, “Washington, My Washington,” and concluded the program with the Cougar fight song.

The words are printed in the program, ASWSU President Derick En’Wezoh told the crowd, “but don’t worry, by the end of your four years, you’ll have them in your heart.”

In truth, it seemed few of those in attendance needed the prompt. Certainly not Professor Emeritus Jim Short, who slipped in right before the ceremony started and found a seat at the top of the bowl.

“I still get a thrill,” he said, looking out over the sea of young faces. “It’s been a part of my life for a long time and I love this place.”

One of the young people in the audience was Nolan Yokomura, 17, a freshman from Kapolie, Hawai’i. Yokomura said WSU has been a part of his life for a (relatively) long time as well. His dad graduated from WSU in the 1970s, he said, and he’s known since middle school that he wanted to be a Coug.

He already knew the fight song too.