David M.
Good afternoon friends. To begin I’d like to thank the academy. However, let me get to the point, let me share with you a poem by Douglas Malloch entitled Good Timber,
Like the tree that had to fight, and the man that had to toil, we all have had to sacrifice things to come here. By the sweat of our brows, we can stand here today and firmly state we have done something great. However, our journey isn’t yet over. Standing here today is a mark of achievement, but our struggle continues all through life. As the poem suggests, we cannot achieve our full potential by simply standing by, or going with the norm. Instead, we achieve by taking the road less traveled and doing things that are deemed impossible. We have accomplished much, but must still lies ahead. May we all have success wherever we may go.
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.