Dominic Carter (political news anchor NY1)
provided an inspirational message to new MSWs as he addressed the graduates at the hooding ceremony of the Wurzweiler School of Social Work on May 22, 2009.
In his remarks Mr. Carter challenged the graduates enthusiastically with very poignant imagery drawn from his personal experience of the Social Work Profession.
"As your speaker today… I want to be clear and unequivocal about this…. way to go school of social work at Yeshiva University!!!! It is a great day in the City of New York today. I’m not talking about some weather forecast. But today is a great day because of graduates like you, on the move, trying to better society. It is a great day today!
Dean Gelman wasn’t aware of this, but I had a serious scheduling conflict. Just a few hours ago I was in the State of Wyoming, speaking at a national conference on child abuse.
I had to make a decision, stay at the conference or catch a late flight to be here with you.
Actions speak louder than words because I’m here.
And Dean Gelman, as the head of one of the best schools of social work in the entire country, and for you, President Joel I have a gifts from Yellowstone National Park.
Graduates I want you to know that if it came down to having, one or the other on my team, on my side you, or students at Ivy League institutions like Harvard University, guess who I would rather have on my side? Graduates of Yeshiva University
As illustrated by you being here today, you work very hard at achieving goals and no one has given you anything.
I would like to do something that is a little different.
Graduates the day belongs to you, but I want your parents to stand. Please, don’t ever forget these are the parents that have greatly sacrificed for you to be standing here today.
Please stand
You are entering a field where the mere fact that you committed to it, says a lot about your character. It proves you have a heart of gold that you want to help others, that you are committed to making a difference not just in the United States, but in making the world a better place. That, as far as I’m concerned, you are taking an ultimate challenge.
What you will do, on a daily basis, can determine whether a person lives or dies. You can single-handedly improve someone’s quality of life; bring a smile to a child’s face. You will have to ultimate power of with the stroke of a pen, deciding in our great country of material, wealth. whether a person has a meal for the day.
Pursue your dreams with passion! Pursue your dreams with passion!
These are trying times for our country.
You are entering a world full of problems:
a global economic recession
the high school drop out rate in Detroit Michigan is 66 percent
All one has to do is turn on the television to see the unprecedented times we are in now. TV commercials for cars that vow if you lose your job, the company will pay your car payment for up to a year.
But challenging times also provide great opportunity.
So I ask are you going to stand on the sidelines in life, and watch things happen, hope that you’re lucky and fortunate.
Or, are you going to be so good at what you do professionally that you create your own opportunities?
Perhaps one of the greatest lessons I learned, since graduating from college, is time will go fast, make good choices, smart decisions.
Winning in life is not measured by the amount of money in your bank account, or the number of homes, or the degrees on the wall. You become a real winner in life, when the winds of fate knock you down, and you manage to get back up.
You graduates are on the front line of saving lives. And your success, in the field you are entering, is personal for me, as personal as personal gets.
I grew up poor in the housing projects of this city. My grandfather was a heroin addict. There was no father in my life. He never signed my birth certificate. Laverne Carter, my mother suffered from severe mental illness. She heard voices telling her to hurt me, to choke me or throw me out of a window.
But people like you stepped in and saved my life!
I have found, and with the help of people like you.
Dean Gelman wasn’t aware of this, but I had a serious scheduling conflict. Just a few hours ago I was in the State of Wyoming, speaking at a national conference on child abuse.
I had to make a decision, stay at the conference or catch a late flight to be here with you.
Actions speak louder than words because I’m here.
And Dean Gelman, as the head of one of the best schools of social work in the entire country, and for you, President Joel I have a gifts from Yellowstone National Park.
Graduates I want you to know that if it came down to having, one or the other on my team, on my side you, or students at Ivy League institutions like Harvard University, guess who I would rather have on my side? Graduates of Yeshiva University
As illustrated by you being here today, you work very hard at achieving goals and no one has given you anything.
I would like to do something that is a little different.
Graduates the day belongs to you, but I want your parents to stand. Please, don’t ever forget these are the parents that have greatly sacrificed for you to be standing here today.
Please stand
You are entering a field where the mere fact that you committed to it, says a lot about your character. It proves you have a heart of gold that you want to help others, that you are committed to making a difference not just in the United States, but in making the world a better place. That, as far as I’m concerned, you are taking an ultimate challenge.
What you will do, on a daily basis, can determine whether a person lives or dies. You can single-handedly improve someone’s quality of life; bring a smile to a child’s face. You will have to ultimate power of with the stroke of a pen, deciding in our great country of material, wealth. whether a person has a meal for the day.
Pursue your dreams with passion! Pursue your dreams with passion!
These are trying times for our country.
You are entering a world full of problems:
a global economic recession
the high school drop out rate in Detroit Michigan is 66 percent
All one has to do is turn on the television to see the unprecedented times we are in now. TV commercials for cars that vow if you lose your job, the company will pay your car payment for up to a year.
But challenging times also provide great opportunity.
So I ask are you going to stand on the sidelines in life, and watch things happen, hope that you’re lucky and fortunate.
Or, are you going to be so good at what you do professionally that you create your own opportunities?
Perhaps one of the greatest lessons I learned, since graduating from college, is time will go fast, make good choices, smart decisions.
Winning in life is not measured by the amount of money in your bank account, or the number of homes, or the degrees on the wall. You become a real winner in life, when the winds of fate knock you down, and you manage to get back up.
You graduates are on the front line of saving lives. And your success, in the field you are entering, is personal for me, as personal as personal gets.
I grew up poor in the housing projects of this city. My grandfather was a heroin addict. There was no father in my life. He never signed my birth certificate. Laverne Carter, my mother suffered from severe mental illness. She heard voices telling her to hurt me, to choke me or throw me out of a window.
But people like you stepped in and saved my life!
I have found, and with the help of people like you.
It doesn’t matter where we start at in life.
It’s where we are going!!!!!
I am very proud of my mother, though hobbled and hampered; she staggered to the finish line. And she may not have had much in life, but she had me. I am her living will and testament to the fortitude of the human spirit. My mother was a survivor, and I inherited that same tenacity to overcome adversity…what a gift she gave to me. When my mother died, I was annoyed that yet again, everything fell on me and that she left nothing material. I was so wrong. My mother left a legacy worth more than any insurance policy. My mother lost her mind and managed to take it back. I am quite humbled by that achievement.
In life ,Graduates, we have to turn negatives into positives.
I want you to always remember your words carefully when you are dealing with others.
You graduates are on the front line of saving lives.
I went to five high schools in this city. And I had an African American guidance counselor, who looked just like me; tell me not to apply to college, because in his words, I would be either dead or in jail.
I turned his negative words into a positive in my life.
I thought I was the dumbest kid to ever graduate from the NYC public school system and I ended up graduating in 3 years instead of 4. Naysayers said I would never make it, but look at me today.
When you are helping others, I want you to always remember the photos I’m about to show you. (Shows photos of himself: on cover of NY Times TV guide; Photo with Nelson Mandela; Photo with President Bill Clinton; Photo with Oprah.)
You are joining a select group of graduates, the Alumni of the School of Social Work at Yeshiva University.
I want you to always remember:
The power you have in Social Work
and
I am very proud of my mother, though hobbled and hampered; she staggered to the finish line. And she may not have had much in life, but she had me. I am her living will and testament to the fortitude of the human spirit. My mother was a survivor, and I inherited that same tenacity to overcome adversity…what a gift she gave to me. When my mother died, I was annoyed that yet again, everything fell on me and that she left nothing material. I was so wrong. My mother left a legacy worth more than any insurance policy. My mother lost her mind and managed to take it back. I am quite humbled by that achievement.
In life ,Graduates, we have to turn negatives into positives.
I want you to always remember your words carefully when you are dealing with others.
You graduates are on the front line of saving lives.
I went to five high schools in this city. And I had an African American guidance counselor, who looked just like me; tell me not to apply to college, because in his words, I would be either dead or in jail.
I turned his negative words into a positive in my life.
I thought I was the dumbest kid to ever graduate from the NYC public school system and I ended up graduating in 3 years instead of 4. Naysayers said I would never make it, but look at me today.
When you are helping others, I want you to always remember the photos I’m about to show you. (Shows photos of himself: on cover of NY Times TV guide; Photo with Nelson Mandela; Photo with President Bill Clinton; Photo with Oprah.)
You are joining a select group of graduates, the Alumni of the School of Social Work at Yeshiva University.
I want you to always remember:
The power you have in Social Work
and
The trust that in being put in you.
Best Wishes to you all"
Best Wishes to you all"
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