Today we celebrated the thirty-three plus years of experience and service that Gordee Bennett has brought to our organization. I think I have been grateful for Gordee's contributions many times through the years, and it was great to see so many people gather today to honor her. But just think how wonderful it would be if we remembered to be grateful more often.
There are many things to be grateful for in the work world. Here are a few of mine:
- I am grateful for students. Because I work in higher education, students are my reason for being here. I attended commencement last evening, and I celebrated the hundreds of students who crossed the stage to receive their degrees. Commencement helps us to be grateful for the many accomplishments of our students and the services that we provide that help them succeed.
- I am grateful for colleagues. My colleagues include faculty, staff, administrators, and student employees here at my campus as well as the many people I work with across the UM system. Sometimes we disagree, but most often we are able to work through our disagreements in order to focus on our shared goals.
- I am grateful for citizens. I believe in higher education, and I appreciate that it is much more widely available because of government funding. I am grateful to all of those taxpayers who provide our support as well as legislators who distribute it. Our many donors add to the support of our students and our campus, so I am grateful to them, too.
- I am grateful for interesting work. I once had a friend tell me he worked only for the money. How sad! I am so lucky to have a job that I enjoy doing, with work that is constantly changing.
- I am grateful for progress. So many things have changed and improved during my working life. Not only am I grateful for progress, but I am grateful for the people that create progress.
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