WYOMISSING, Pa., May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is a commencement address that Jay S. Sidhu, Chairman and CEO of Sovereign Bancorp. Inc., will deliver today to more than 600 students who are graduating at Lock Haven University's 129th spring commencement.
President Miller, Board of Trustees, members of the faculty, distinguished guests, proud parents and most importantly, ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2006. My heartfelt congratulations to you on embarking on perhaps the most exciting part of your life's journey and putting behind you four years of partying with other dudes, making 3-4 a.m. your bedtime, cramming for your exams all night and learning the most from faculty and your friends here at "Haven."
It is a great pleasure that I join you today on this historic occasion in your lives. First of all, please join me in saluting and congratulating your parents and others who have supported you, encouraged you, prayed for you, and worked hard to pay your tuition and expenses. Please give them a round of applause.
Also, the friendships you have developed here, the relationships you have built, can be very meaningful throughout your life. Please congratulate the person on your left and right. Better yet, give them a hug and say "Congratulations and God bless you."
Like you, I feel fortunate and privileged to have gone to a small school in Pennsylvania - Wilkes University, located just about 100 miles from here. I was there when hurricane Agnes hit Pennsylvania and most of the state was flooded. I'm sure your parents would remember that. I am proud and privileged about that part of my life because I am still very much affiliated with Wilkes and also get a pleasure of visiting the librarian who was there 30 years ago.
I want to now briefly, in less than 10 minutes, share with you my beliefs about the top four things that matter the most for a successful professional life. These are simply based upon my life's experiences at Wilkes and beyond and I hope many of you may find them of interest.
(1) First, to be successful in life, you must have a vision or a dream and a plan to achieve that vision.
I believe that the future is not something we just enter. The future is something, with God's help, we create. You must visualize and dream about this future. If you don't know what you want, mediocrity is what you will get.
When I graduated from high school in India, I had a dream about traveling through most of Asia and Europe with an aim of promoting world peace through understanding of people. I had no money. But in pursuit of that dream, opportunities arose and my roommate and I were successful in hitchhiking through Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, France, England, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, Albania, and back to India through Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. We found a way to do this over a three-month period on less than $100 total between the two of us and had the best education of our lives.
Then I had a vision of coming to the United States to study. We did not have money to pay for the application fees. I applied to 42 universities that had no application fee. Wilkes accepted me with a full scholarship. I now feel so grateful for that good fortune and feel privileged to give back to Wilkes.
Then we set a vision to create a nationally recognized bank based in Reading, Pennsylvania. Fortunately, we are today becoming a global bank dedicated to serving our local customers with the touch of a local bank.
There were numerous obstacles along the way. From time to time, life looked hopeless and I'm sure you will experience that too. But persistence and drive to achieve the vision fortunately prevails. Consider the story of this visionary man:
- He failed in business two times
- He was defeated in local and statewide elections twice
- He lost two young sons
- He was defeated for a seat in Congress and the Senate five times
- He was defeated for Vice President
- Finally elected as one of the nation's most prominent presidents at
age 51
- Abraham Lincoln
So, I ask you to have a vision for your personal and professional life and pursue that vision with a passion. Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well and nothing ever is achieved without enthusiasm, persistence and hard work.
Second, true success in life comes from being emotionally and spiritually healthy or by being an authentic person.
I believe that you cannot be a great leader unless you are a great human being first and you cannot be a great human being unless you are authentic. The same principles that apply to emotionally healthy families, to emotionally healthy and authentic friendships and relationships apply also to teams and businesses. It does not matter whether you wish to pursue a career in business, government, not-for-profit, education, law, healthcare or entrepreneurialship. Your college education has only developed your I.Q. skills. Your successes in life will be mostly dependent upon your communication skills, listening skills, empathy, honesty, integrity, being genuine, constantly seeking feedback, having values - or being authentic.
Socrates and Aristotle, centuries ago, spoke about the importance of self- awareness and knowing yourself. Learn to know yourself and you can stop living with a stranger. Imagine for a moment the person in your life you admire the most. Is it your parent, friend, faculty member, or a coach? Ask yourself why. Is it because they are or were genuinely trusting, a great listener, always there when you needed them, selfless, humble, and yet confident? In other words, they had wisdom and maturity. Wisdom comes from being authentic, knowing yourself, being truthful and most important, listening to the life experiences of your parents, grandparents, and your religious leaders.
So I urge you to continue to develop your emotional intelligence each day.
The third point is to have a future full of opportunities tomorrow, exceed expectations in whatever you are doing today.
People many times waste careers simply complaining about their bosses or partners. Why not look inwardly? Why not commit to doing the best job today? Be the best student in high school and you get the best opportunities in colleges, best in college opens more doors for careers. Similarly, in life, be the best you can be in whatever opportunity you have in your professional life and you will get ahead. Finally, be the best partner and you will have a terrific family life. Only working hard, working smart, and having fun encourages a good future. So, always strive to be the best you can be today and you will have a great opportunity tomorrow.
(4) Lastly, become a constant life-long learner and commit to helping others in need.
As Helen Keller said, "You do not simply want to spend the rest of your life. You want to invest it." The more one learns, the more one realizes how little one knows. Let's be passionate about our hobbies and our professions. Let's read, watch, listen, see the world and learn. Let's open our brains to limitless learning and expectations as long as we live. That will give us happiness and success and peace. I ask the faculty and staff to do the same and not just look at teaching students what they do not know in different subjects. As noted philosopher John Ruskin said, "Education is also about teaching people to behave as they do not behave." In other words, let's help develop complete human beings to their fullest potential, not just graduate them.
We are among the most fortunate in the world to have been given citizenship in a country like no other on earth, providing possibilities like no place else on earth. But nothing is handed to you. You have the potential to get it, depending upon your commitment and hard work. Use your education and your success in life, not just for yourself, but to help those still trapped in cycles of poverty and violence. Above all, never lose faith in America. Its faults are yours to fix, not to curse.
You have a great life ahead of you. Have a vision about your future, be authentic, work hard, work smart, have fun and take full advantage of what this wonderful world has to offer.
Thank you, good luck and God bless you all.
About Sovereign
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. ("Sovereign") , is the parent company of Sovereign Bank, a pro forma $83 billion financial institution with nearly 800 community banking offices, over 2,000 ATMs and approximately 12,000 team members with principal markets in the Northeast United States after giving effect to the Independence acquisition and recently announced branding agreement in which Sovereign ATMs will be placed in CVS/pharmacy locations. Sovereign offers a broad array of financial services and products including retail banking, business and corporate banking, cash management, capital markets, wealth management and insurance. Sovereign is the 18th largest banking institution in the United States. For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit http://www.sovereignbank.com/ or call 1-877-SOV-BANK.
Sovereign Bank, its logo and lantern are service marks of Sovereign Bank or its affiliates or subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
