Student body president Chance Salway encouraged his fellow graduates to embrace failure \u2013 Thomas Edison, he said, did not fail 10,000 times in inventing the light bulb but rather had 10,000 opportunities to learn how to do something the wrong way. Embracing failure is paramount when to comes to being successful, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe liberal arts education that you learned here will give you something you\u2019ll take with you always: perspective,\u201d Salway said in his address to his peers. \u201cDon\u2019t let anyone tell you that you can\u2019t achieve your goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sidney Kabotie, who graduated with a bachelors of arts in anthropology, said he has learned how to be a better listener in school, something he hopes will help him in his post-graduate journey. And if it was not for his professors, he would not have learned that important trait, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy teachers, they\u2019re the biggest reason I got through college,\u201d he said. \u201cThey changed my whole perspective on learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chrystianne Valdez graduated with a bachelors of science degree in psychology, an education she plans to extend into graduate school, she said. Valdez was a college athlete, playing for the FLC volleyball team, something that she said was both challenging and rewarding.<\/p>\n \u201cI learned to be part of a team, how to multitask,\u201d Valdez said.<\/p>\n And while Scurrah is unsure what he wants to do with his economics degree \u2013 he\u2019ll probably go surfing, first \u2013 his mother, Nicole, said FLC changed her son for the better.<\/p>\n \u201cHe really left his comfort zone and did something completely different than what he\u2019d ever know,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the end of the road for many graduates, but rather the beginning of discovering who they are going to be and how they are going to impact the world, said FLC President Tom Stritikus.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have such an inspiring group of faculty, students and staff,\u201d he said after the ceremony. \u201cWe look forward to all the work they\u2019re going to do in their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n