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Feature Winter 2004 Winter 2006 Winter 2010
Henry Ford famously said, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you are right.” His profound statement may explain the fantastically varied results of millions of New Year’s resolutions that Americans make each January. By summertime many of us have achieved our goals. Others have given up. And still a few of us muscle onward, clinging courageously to goals we have set but not yet met. 
The start of each new calendar year prompts serious reflection upon the events of the past. Two-thousand and nine presented a host of monumental challenges for students, faculty, and programs at the Marriott School.
It wasn’t love at first sight when Mike Ward saw the fixer-upper on an overgrown lot in La Canada, a suburb of Los Angeles. But behind the weeds, worn siding, and faded paint, he saw something that intrigued him: potential.
I am truly honored and delighted to be here with you on this joyous occasion. This ceremony is called commencement because you are about to commence, or begin, the next stage in your lives. Up to this point most of what you have done is prepare.
Throughout our lives we may ascend to many summits. These climbs have unique challenges that require us to prepare and approach each one differently.
Commencement—or the ability to begin or start something—is a vital part of life. Boris Pasternak, a Nobel Prize-winning Russian poet, once described the talent and art of writing as “boldness in the face of the blank sheet.”