There was a wonderful meshing of messages in the speeches delivered at last Thursday's North Shore Community College commencement.
Peter Diamond, a Nobel Prize-winning MIT economist, whose son was among those receiving their degrees, spoke of the great diversity of those who attend the school.
"Some of you came here directly from high school," Diamond said. "Some from military service. Some of you tried various schools and various jobs and came here to find a better way forward. And some of you have had careers and are now seeking something new."
Diamond was speaking of his son, who received a bachelor's degree in geography, but then decided he wanted a career in occupational therapy; but he might have just as well been referring to the Marblehead man chosen by his peers to be student speaker.
David Antin, 51, was a woodworker and stay-at-home dad. Now he holds an associate's degree and is enrolled at Salem State University, where he plans to pursue a degree in social work and counseling.
"Within my two years here, I have changed from a fairly uninspired, intellectually listless man of 49, whose potential remained untapped," Antin told his classmates, "to a man inspired, inquisitive and academically accomplished with a fire in my soul and the confidence that comes with knowledge."
Providing such inspiration and the opportunity to find "a better way forward" is, of course, the role our community college system performs for thousands of individuals every year. Increasingly, those who graduate from NSCC are equipped not only with a fresh outlook on life and the pursuit of knowledge, but tangible skills that will allow them to find productive employment.
But as Diamond also advised, it's important throughout life and throughout one's career to remain flexible and open to new opportunities. Every experience, he noted, is also a lesson.
No doubt it's an attitude that has served Diamond well on the rocky and still uncertain road to appointment as President Obama's nominee to the Federal Reserve Board.
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