That's me on the right with the Board of Regents and President Richards on the back row in the middle. It was a pretty crazy evening, one I will never forget!

Graduation

I graduated with my Associate's degree in Secondary Education on May 18, 2009. I was chosen to be the first-ever student speaker at the commencement ceremony in the thirty-seven year history of the College of Southern Nevada. My family was there with the exception of one son and daughter-in-law who were in Iowa and one son who is in Mexico serving an LDS mission. It was wonderful to have my parents there, and afterward they hugged the stuffin' out of me. Here is my speech:

Believe You Can
CSN Commencement Speech, May, 2009
by Charlene J. Paul

Thank-you President Richards. Good evening Ann Johnson, April Krell, Board of Regents, Faculty and Staff. I appreciate all you have done for my fellow graduates and for me. With budget problems looming over your heads, you have never forgotten the students whom you serve. With your continued diligence and support, CSN will forge ahead in strength, serving students not only from our Southern Nevada communities, but from communities all over the nation and in some instances, the world. So once again, thank you.

Greetings Graduates, Families and friends. What a wonderful day! When I started college thirty-three years ago, I never dreamed that I would be fifty-one years old on the day I graduated! But fifty-one I am, and I am grateful to be here with all of you, and honored for the opportunity I have of speaking to you for a few minutes.

The poet, Edgar Guest said,

“Can’t is the worst word that’s written or spoken;
Doing more harm here than slander and lies;
On it is many a strong spirit broken,
And with it many a good purpose dies.
It springs from the lips of the thoughtless each morning
And robs us of courage we need through the day:
It rings in our ears like a timely sent warning
And laughs when we falter and fall by the way.”

“Can’t is the father of feeble endeavor,
The parent of terror and halfhearted work;
It weakens the efforts of artisans clever,
And makes of the toiler an indolent shirk.
It poisons the soul of the man with a vision,
It stifles in infancy many a plan;
It greets honest toiling with open derision
And mocks at the hopes and the dreams of a man.”

I was raised in Las Vegas by parents who believed I could do anything. They rarely let me out of a task because I said, “I can’t.” In fact, they believed saying “I can’t” was the same as
saying “I won’t” or “I quit.” Often when I would declare that I couldn’t accomplish the task at hand, the reply was that the problem didn’t lie with my abilities, the problem was my attitude.

Twenty-three years ago, I was widowed and left with two small boys to raise. It was a daunting task and I wasn’t sure how I would do it. Saying “I can’t”, “I won’t”, or “I quit” wasn’t an option because I had two little boys who needed me and who deserved a mom who wouldn’t give up and quit because life got hard.


Two years later, I was blessed to find a wonderful man who loved me and wanted to help me raise my two sons. We were married and became the parents of two more sons and two daughters. My husband and I have tried to instill in them the idea that they could do anything. We have been relentless as we have told them time and again that saying “I can’t”, “I won’t”, or “I quit” isn’t an option. They would get so angry at times because they were certain we were ruining their lives, and they were certain we didn’t know just how hard things were. It has been an interesting and sometimes difficult journey as I have watched them grow, learn, and experience life.

When I returned to college in the fall of 2007, I wasn’t sure I could hack it. I was afraid that my brain had somehow turned to mush from years of no schooling. I was afraid I wouldn’t fit in with classmates who were much younger than I. I was afraid, plainly and simply, afraid. And secretly I decided that if it got too hard, I would quit. But please don’t tell my kids.

You know what? It was hard. On one occasion, I brought home a quiz that had a big, fat, red C at the top of the page. I didn’t feel too badly about it, though, because, after all, it had been several decades since I had gone to school. But my then fourteen-year-old daughter saw it, picked it up, waived it at me and said, “Mom, you know a C is unacceptable in this house!” In her voice, I heard my own words coming back at me, telling me that I had better shape up and get to work. So I continued on and guess what? I could. I did. And I will continue.

But what about today? And what about you? That is the real world out there, and there is so much around you that is negative. The economy isn’t good. The housing market is bad. The national debt is out of control. Families are falling apart. Politicians and leaders can’t be trusted. The outlook is bleak.

So what is to be done? Maybe nothing can be done. Maybe it’s time to sit this one out. Maybe it’s time to throw in the towel. Maybe it’s time to say you can’t do it. Maybe it’s time to quit.

Don’t you believe it! You are prepared. This is your day. You have the know-how and the tenacity. You are being handed an enormous challenge - to fix what generations before have messed up. You are going to be expected to do things that no one has yet figured out how to do. You are going to be expected to invent things that haven’t yet been thought of. You are going to be expected to give birth to ideas that will change the course of history. You are going to be expected to do the impossible. Will you be able to do it?

So many young people are giving in to the cynicism of my generation. So many young people are beginning to believe that things can only get worse. So many young people are filled with despair and discouragement. If you listen to the news or popular opinion, you will hear plenty of complainers, pessimists, prophets-of-doom, and party-poopers. Don’t you become one of them! Have a dream. Get to work. Never give up. You will find the answers. You will solve
the problems. You will make a difference. If you doubt that, stand back, take a deep breath, and then believe that you can.


I wish you could stand here and feel what I feel - an energy in the air that almost takes my breath away. I wish each one of you could stand at this microphone and look out and see
what I see - eyes full of eagerness and curiosity, faces set with determination and wonder. In your faces I see answers to questions that are beyond my capability to answer. I see bookkeepers, builders, and casino managers. I see dental hygienists, diesel mechanics, and engineers. I see medical assistants, musicians, and nurses. I see prospective firefighters, police officers and teachers. In short, I see the future.

I believe, as Edgar Guest said:

“You’re well equipped for what fight you choose;
You have arms and legs and a brain to use.
And the man who has risen, great deeds to do
Began his life with no more than you.
So figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You were born with all that the great have had.
With your equipment they all began,
Get hold of yourself and say, ‘I can.’”