Convocation Speech Spring 2013
Unless otherwise noted, these speeches and open letters were written for the Dean of Students of Biola University between 2011-2016.
[adapted from Duke University, Steve Nowicki http://today.duke.edu/2011/08/nowickiconvocation]
President Corey, I (too, want to) introduce to you the men and women of the Spring 2013 incoming class, which today officially adds XXX to our undergraduate community. And XXX to our Graduate Community.
These are successful students, President Corey. Biola is considered a ‘selective’ university; our standards are high. These students come to us with high grades, high test scores, high levels of involvement in both school and church, and high moral standards.
And though they are already very successful, we still surround these students with a safety net; committed Christian faculty and administrators, mentors, counselors, advisors, TAs, RAs, RDs… all devoted to equipping them in mind and character to impact the world for Jesus Christ.
And so, to all these successful students, I want to encourage you… to fail.
Not the massive fail. Not the epic fail that ends up on YouTube. Not the kind of spectacular flameout that ends with you in a smoldering heap in front of the Provost’s office.
I mean ‘fail’ as in, ‘not be perfect.’
You may look around this room and be thinking, “Wow, I better have my act together here… ‘cause they all look like they have their act together!” And spurring each other on to love and good deeds is Biblical, but if you take it so far that you never allow yourself to be less than perfect, never admit your weaknesses and defeats… then no one here will ever really know you, and you will miss so much.
And you may as well learn how to fail here… because you will fail someday. You will disappoint someone, you will screw up, you will miss the mark, you will drop the ball. To learn how to fail now… here… surrounded by people who love and support you, is to learn how to rise from the ashes, how to get up after you’ve been knocked down, how to apologize and how to repent and how to change and how to grow. Johnny Cash (the great philosopher) said, “You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone.” You can learn that out there, or you can learn it here.
And finally, Einstein said, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” Taking a risk… a class in a subject you've never thought about; a ministry that seems like a stretch for you; meeting people who aren’t like you at all… Taking a risk pushes your envelope, expands your horizons, and maybe shows you something you never knew about yourself.
Now, when you try new things, you’ll probably fail at one [or more] of them. Michael Jordan (the other great philosopher) said, “I can accept failure; everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.”
And, when I speak of risk and failure, I’m not suggesting you bungie jump off the peak of the Library. No, the value of failing at something must be measured by the worth of trying it in the first place, which itself is measured by what you can learn from it, how it will change and grow you. What I’m talking about is failing wisely, which isn't really failing at all -- it's learning how to be truly successful. Henry Ford said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
A little bit of failure goes with the discovery of how to be truly successful. Abraham was called to leave his home and risk going to a place he’d never seen before…and he had failures along the way. Jesus’ disciples were called to leave their familiar jobs and risk doing something they’d never dreamed of… and they had failures along the way.
And here you are, at Biola. Along with the rest of us… all of us, God’s glorious failures.
Fail wisely. Fail boldly.
President Corey, I present to you our new students for Spring 2013.
