Alumni Graduation Speech Two of Two.

It was ten years ago that I got my Master of Science Degree in Insurance Management from Boston University.  Because 20 years elapsed, the whole experience was different, and if I presented an alumni speech to the future alumni of BU, I would say something like this:

 Good afternoon.

I would like to thank President Brown for the introduction and remarks. I would also like to thank all of those involved in planning this event for thinking of me when it came to deciding which alumnus would receive the honor of participating in the last chance to give you, my soon to be fellow Alumni, some words of wisdom and advice.

I find it hard to believe that it was ten years ago, I was sitting where you were sitting. It was an important milestone in my life because getting my graduate degree was something I always wanted to do – and it took me 20 years to do it.

During that 20 year post receiving my Bachelor of Arts degree period, A lot of things happened.

• I had a first job that did not work out.
• I was told by my parents, “Leave and don't ever come back,” and said, “Bye.”
• I froze in Denver Colorado.
• I fell in love.
• I endured a nasty breakup.
• I moved to San Francisco
• I fell in love again.
• Seven years after graduating, I got a job in a field that became a career.
• Fourteen years after graduating, I got two professional designations.
• After all that, I got accepted into BU's Master of Science program in Insurance Management, and participated in another graduation in 2006.

Somehow over the course of 20 years, the dream didn't die. And I hope your dreams don't die too. That being said, you probably have expectations on how your dreams are going to manifest themselves. I can assure you that things won't happen the way you planned them to happen. The bad news is life isn't a straight line. The good news is that you right now are ready, willing and able to meet the challenges ahead and achieve whatever dreams, hopes and goals you aspire to right now. You will also be able to tell one heck of a story about the path to your dreams.

And please make an effort to achieve them. No one wants to hear you lament that you didn't do something – especially when you have a chance to do so. Case in point, if my late partner quit lamenting about not finishing college and actually did something about it, he would have gotten his degree!

But I would like to expand on my commentary about him. Right before my graduation, he had two rounds of emergency surgery related to his having Stage 2 Colon Cancer. Of course he wouldn't miss my commencement for the world, and managed to endure a six hour flight from San Francisco to Boston to watch the extravaganza. At the time that was not an easy task as he was still recovering from surgery, but he did it.

And became one of my heroes for it. I appreciate it and hope you appreciate the heroes in your life that have gotten you to this point and the ones you will encounter beyond this point.

One last piece of advice. Recognize and appreciate things can, must and will change. My long term relationships have evolved over the years, and the people who I have known for a long time are totally different now then when I first met them – and that is a good thing. I have also experienced a major change in that my partner died ten months ago. I embraced the opportunity to move and experience a new life – and am a better person for it. I hope you are able to do the same when you encounter major challenges.

Thank you all for taking time to hear me ramble on. I appreciate the opportunity and will put this event as one of the highlights of my BU Experience, which I hope you enjoyed as much as I did. Lastly, to my soon to be fellow alumni; to quote RuPaul, “Good luck, and don't f--- it up!”