In this blog, unlike most of my other blogs, I want to address our students specifically.

There is a reason the windshield is bigger than the rear view mirror. As we near the end of 2017, instead of reflecting on all the many, many different things that have happened over the past year, I’d like to focus on the future and my hopes for 2018.

At Tallahassee Community College, we are committed to the role we play in enabling you to become good citizens as much as to get a good job or transfer to your university of choice. Our learning environment often challenges belief systems and perceptions and helps you to think in meaningful new ways. In the classroom, debate is intentional and useful. Outside of the classroom, programs and organizations like honors, student government, or the veterans association provide opportunities to apply what you’ve learned to grow both as a student and a person.

If I had one wish it would be that you take full advantage of this environment, and the limited time you have here, to explore and establish a firm set of values and principles. These will guide you for the rest of your life, and just as they’ve done for me, they will keep you centered when you face some of your toughest moments.

As we’ve seen over the past year, the world can be a strange and challenging place. We don’t want you to just deal with it, we want you to thrive in it and make it better. We want you to be groundbreakers and trailblazers, to have integrity and optimism, to ask the right questions, to listen to one another, and to always, always keep improving.

The New Year symbolizes a fresh start for everyone. In 2018, I hope we can learn to better understand one another. I hope we can learn from the past and live for the future.