Tonight
I attended and spoke at the graduation ceremony of the 6th graduating class of
the "Getting Ahead in a Just Gettin by World" program. Getting Ahead is an initiative of Franklin's
Promise Coalition, Inc., with the goal of identifying and stamping out the root
causes of poverty throughout Franklin County.
The
program facilitates a process for people from poverty to
investigate the impact that poverty has had on themselves and their community
and to use this information to build resources for a better life and community.
Below is the printed text of
my remarks:
Mayor Van Johnson, Remarks
6th Graduating Class of Getting Ahead
Monday, August 19, 2013
Where Do You Want To Go?
To our honored
participants of the "Getting Ahead in a Just Gettin by World Program”, to
your families, friends, loved ones, and guest - I bring you all greetings from
the esteemed Apalachicola Board of City Commissioners and our dedicated staff.
It’s an honor for me to
join each of you in celebrating your completion of Getting Ahead and your
determination to get “Ahead” in this just getting by world.
I like to start by
sharing a story I told to a group of students with the Franklin County Public
Library Tigers Program back in June of 2009.
The story was about
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, taking from the 1865 fictitious novel written
by English author Charles Dodgson under his pen name Lewis Carroll.
As the story goes there
was a little girl named Alice, who felled down a rabbit hole and landed in a
fantasy world called Wonderland that was populated by non-human creatures that
had human characteristics.
While wandering through
Wonderland Alice came upon a crossroad where she met a Cheshire cat, unsure of
which direction to take… she asked the cat, which road she must travel.
The Cheshire cat
responded to Alice by asking her, "where do you want to go", and
Alice quickly replied, "I really much don't care".
At that point, the cat
told Alice, if you don't care then it really doesn't matter which road you
take.
In real life, sometimes
due to despair brought on by an unfortunate or unforeseen circumstance, such as
a teenage pregnancy, the loss of a job, the death of a breadwinner, a sudden
illness or an addiction we tumble over into our own rabbit hole, and while
there we sometimes lose direction and our ability to care and can't seem to
find our way out.
So the Cheshire cat’s
response to Alice was a valid one and applicable to each of you here tonight.
If you have falling
into a rabbit hole while travelling life’s journey, and you don't know or care
which direction you are headed to get out, then it really doesn't matter which
road to travel.
Now let me repeat that
again to make sure it hit home!
If you don't know or
care which direction you are headed while travelling life’s journey, then it
really doesn't matter which road you travel upon.
The purpose of the
Getting Ahead program was to give you relevant information necessary to reflect
upon, while self-examining your lives, so you could control your own destinies,
in preparation for future success in order to fulfil your goals and dreams.
In other words, the
program was designed to prepare you to climb out of any rabbit hole that you
may have falling into and rise to your potential.
So the million dollar
question has to be asked – moving forward, where do you want to go? Think about
it! It’s the same question the Cheshire cat asked Alice.
Once you have answered
that question for yourselves, then giving you directions will be the easy part.
The road to success as
with every journey we take in life starts with a single step and the first step
toward your destination after knowing which road to travel is to prepare for
the journey.
It is often said,
success happens when preparation meets opportunity.
So while traveling to
meet your opportunity, please know that as part of the process, the naysayers
in your lives, your friends and sometimes your families will place obstacles in
your way, but with determination each step taken toward opportunity will
overcome those obstacles.
There will
automatically be frustrations, fears and uncertainties lurking around every
corner, but with perseverance each step taken toward opportunity will crush
those fears and frustrations,
And as a rule, there will
be hardships and dangers while traveling toward opportunity, but by focusing on
your desired destination all hardships and dangers will also be conquered.
Take a break if you
must, but whatever you do please don't give up.
And always remember
that nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent cannot, nothing is more common than unsuccessful
men with talent. Genius cannot, unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education cannot, the world is full of
educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are
omnipotent.
Your participation in
the Getting Ahead program was your preparation and first step, now the rest is
up to you.
Unlike Alice who felled
down the rabbit hole and wondered aimlessly throughout Wonderland without a
specific goal or purpose, you have been giving directions, your possibilities
are unlimited, and there is absolutely no one impeding your progress or
stopping you from getting ahead, other than you, yourselves.
So where do you want to
go?
One final note, as you
journey toward you destination take God with you and always remember that
through Him all things are possible.
May the Grace of God bless you and keep you and may
God continue to bless the Great City of Apalachicola and this administration.
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