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Show Guest Editorial The Baccalaureate address to the Class of 1972 was iven by former MHS graduate Major D. V. McDonald, f Mr and Mrs. A. L, McDonald. We felt that his son d h was worthy o fan even wider audience, so we are GIVE YOURSFLF TO SOMETHING GREAT By D. V. McDonald, Major, USAF jt is with extreme pleasure that I stand before you tonight. I have reflected many times in the past about my jife at Milford High School. Although in realty the time spent on that hill was very short, it indeed, however, formed the keystone for the rest of my life. When I received the invitation to talk to you it was hard to realize that 17 years ago tonight, I sat where you are sitting. The question of what to talk about has been bothering me for a long time. I don't intend to stand up here and preach to you, or tell you how wonderful the world is or how good you're going to have it, or how well prepared you are. I want to tell you how I feel about this hirh school, about this town and about this nation. It is your turn to step out in life, to show that you can contribute; con-tribute; that you can help make things better. have the highest degree of operational readiness. There is also a concept called redundancy. Bused on certain design limitations and mission requirements, each spacecraft has a given amount of redundancy. That is to say that if one component, such as a transmitter or receiver re-ceiver fails, the backup or redundant unit takes over. The human body too has a certain amount of redundancy. Automatically Au-tomatically built-into it.' Each of you must build in redundancy redun-dancy into your life. Always have a back-up solution as good or better than the primary one. Make redundancy a part of everything you do so that when critical situations arise, you will have the flexibility to respond effectively. These exercises mark the completion, in part, of your academic preparation and the commencement of real preparation. pre-paration. Perhaps some of you think that fortuitous chance or luck is the key factor to success, but a truer definition is that luck is when preparation and opportunity meet. You are going to have to think harder, clearer and serve better than your fathers. You must help keep our country from expiring on the bes of luxury, ant misspent leisure. You must maintain dynamic creative strength in the midst of abundance and internal strife; a barrier no previous . generation has surmounted. It can Ibe done, and it is in large measure, up to each of us to insure that it will be done. The current world situation deeply concerns all of us. There is no easy answer, no perfect solution to the strusrzle My charge to you is to "Give Yourself to Something Qreat" There are very few great men in this country, but there are many great things, great institutions, great professions, great challenges. What has made these things areat or solved the great problems? Not great people, but ordinary, hard working and dedicated people. You have taken the first step toward a productive adult life, and I believe you are here because you want to make a success of that life. Your success in life will' largely depend upon doing things for others. Success and : happiness in life is a by-product of service to your family, your church, your community and your nation. Let's explore together for a moment the aspect of giving giv-ing yourself to something great. First of all, each of us is different. No one exactly like you has ever existed before. I believe each of us has a special purpose and that determining deter-mining that purpose of your particular life, and accom-, accom-, plishing it will be your greatest challenge. You must dis-s dis-s cover what you can do with yourself. In "the process, you ! will form habits and viewpoints that will determine whether your road leads to success and happiness, or disappointment dis-appointment and sorrow. As you already know, making good grades in school i requires application. One cannot expect to achieve suc- cess without application. I recall a very vivid experience right here in my high school days. The late J. M. Hughes told me, after I had failed miserably on an algebra exam : "If you continue to perform in life the way you have done on this test, you will likely be a failure." How true that was, because I knew that I had not given my total capa-tl capa-tl bility to achieving a good grade. A trivial example, you might say, but to me it created a lasting impression. The i,: point being, that if you, with your unique and personal ,', capabilities and talents, do not approach eVery task, every i job in life, with the best of your abilities, you too will not achieve the level of success that is waiting for you. This country is a great country because people have sacrificed and given themselves to things that are indeed great. We need not reiterate the many sacrifices and con- tributions people in this very town, and from this very Shigh school have made. As I look around this room I see old friends and associates as-sociates who have worked hard and in no small measure, , have given themselves to things that are great.. The fact that your parents have given you the fundamental requirements require-ments of life, and provided you with opportunities un-equaled un-equaled in the history of the world should not Ibe overlooked over-looked or taken lightly. You are a product of a society abundant with opportunity, abounding with natural re-C re-C sources and industry, but plagued by internal dissent and ii; ecological crises. To compete in a society advanced beyond t; any ever known to mankind will demand that you learn more, give more, tolerate more, and sacrifice more. You ! I cannot expect to be employed by asking the question "How J. much do I get?" You must ask "What can I do?" "What can I accomplish?' and most of all, "What can I contrib-1 contrib-1 ut?" The secret of success is to be ready when opportun-. opportun-. ltv comes. Opportunity may come by chance, but readi-jj! readi-jj! ness never. In the Air Force there is a concept called operational reaJiness. This concept is based upon being prepared for any military contingency so that when the opportunity 'I Presents itself, there will never be any question that a ' successful operation will result. I have been involved in 0 military operations where no detail or procedure ,jS wn be overlooked the key is readiness and readiness cmes from preparation. . i When we put a satellite into a particular orbit to do a specific job, it is net like the apollo program where man's ab'hty is present to fix problems as they arise. For un- kf;. manned spacecraft such as communications satellites, the J. ""stakes you make on the ground can never be fixed in S" rblt it is a one way street. Therefore, when we prepare f; 3 Uite for launch every screw, every nut and bolt, 5j" Jd everv Uttle insignificant thing must be checked. The ure of one circuit or one connection may mean the loss 0f a 30 million dollar satellite. to Puttng a spacecraft into orbit is somewhat analogous c. embarking on a chosen career. If you make a serious 'stake today, you cannot turn back the clock tomorrow nd COrrect it. There is no reversing the process. You must attempt to make the right decision now and to continu- "Sly prepare f()r y()ur future rolfi go that you -t0Q will in Vietnam. Long ago, this country committed itself to helping oppressed and under-developed nations, nations threatened by conquering powers. We have not had as our motive, the natural or cultural resources of other nations. We have conquered no one! Why then have we been involved in-volved so deeply and so long in Southeast Asia? It has not been easy for any of us who have been there or any who have waited while sons or fathers went and some came back with the scars 0f war an(j stm others never came back. You ask what has been gained by all this sacrifice? sac-rifice? Only years and years from now will these answers be truely evident. We must put faith in our leaders and their perspective on the past and the future. One fact is for certain, the communist enemy has exactly the opposite goal in mind they want to dominate, control, conquer and build nations at the expense of human dignity and freedom. You will be exposed to those who would seek the demise de-mise of this great country and the society built around freedom and the basic rights of individuals. Those who would do this either wilfully or unwillfully, do not understand, under-stand, nor appreciate their heritage and their basic responsibilities. respon-sibilities. This country cannot tolerate disrespect for law and order, and rebellion against almost 200 years of struggle strug-gle based on sound principles. You will no longer read or passively be awar of these problems. They will be yours, as well as ours. As you know, the pursuit of easy things makes men weak and the pursuit of difficult things, makes men strong. You should know already of the thrill in making the team or activity that was most difficule for you to make, or in getting a good mark in the subject that was most difficult for you. Most of your happiness will come from struggling to achieve the difficult, from battling to overcome weakness or to develop a talent by striving to help others to do the same . Don't be fooled into concluding that there are shortcuts short-cuts to achieving worthwhile goals, or that the road will be free of trouble and disappointment or periods of doubt and gloom. There is absolutely no substitute for hard work. Show me a hard working man and I will show you a successful suc-cessful man. . Never run out ot unattained goals, never stop striving and growing. You must continue to acquire knowledge and organize it for effective use or lose your present intellectual intellect-ual capaoity. i ; To achieve worthwhile goals you must develop a credible character, and it cannot be built on anything of value, accomplished without self-discipline. Self-discipline means self-mastry which demonstrates maturity. The self-disciplined individual has chosen between be-tween two freedoms the false, where one is free to do what he likes, and the true, when one is free to do what he ought. Certainly each of you at this major event in your life, has established som worthwhile goals to achieve; Some may want to pursue higher education, others may seek immediate employment and still others may be undecided at this point. Whatever the case may be, it is with a high degree of certainty that whatever you attempt will not be easy. You will be challenged at every turn, you must learn to accept criticism and to overcome adversity. Above all you must have faith in yourself and confidence in your abilities. Confidence and self-esteem are learned, they do not come over night or next week. For many people, it takes years to attain a high degree of self-confidence. You must work at it continuously attempting to excel and achieve. I hope you have gotten the message. The message is "Challenge" give yourself to something great. You are being dared to take on the problems of the world ; to take over"the controls of an imperfect society. The real challenge of technology and science are simple sim-ple to state, but the challenges of socio-economic and cultural cul-tural problems are more difficult. Every generation must take it's turn. It is now up to you to find the solutions to these problems. It is now up to you to make life better for your generation - and the children you will bring into the world. You are faced with no small task, no easy road, no handouts. Will you meet the challenge? The very real world needs what you have to offer. Give yourself to something great - think about it - think about it! |