Dear graduates, it is a pleasure to commend you for your diligence in completing a course of study at BYU-Idaho. You have planted intellectual and spiritual seeds that will bear fruit for you and your loved ones for generations to come. Well done.
As you know, December is a relatively unusual time to graduate from college. Few universities hold Fall semester commencements.
Even more unusual is to face a job market beset by a pandemic. To the casual observer, the timing may seem unfortunate.
But there are silver linings in the clouds. You have been well-taught by a world-class faculty who have you as their paramount professional concern.
Better still, your training has been practical and Gospel-illuminated. You know what it means to learn by both study and faith. You are prepared to succeed, even in times of disruption.
Moreover, there are rays of sunlight piercing the pandemic clouds. Notwithstanding the near-term dearth of vaccines, an economic recovery is in the offing. Stock markets are recovering, with some performance measures reaching all-time highs.
The future is looking brighter.
There is also a paradoxical timing advantage that can work to your benefit. Most large companies begin their fiscal year in January, when they have maximum discretion to hire new employees.
In addition, your practical training, along with the spiritual light in your eyes, will set you apart in the job market. If you add to that a willingness to start low on the totem pole and the salary scale, you can be a very competitive candidate. With patience and hard work, you could rise relatively quickly.
One of my personal heroes did that. His name is Gordon Hinckley. Gordon’s parents had only limited financial means, but they nurtured his love of learning.
He attended the University of Utah, where he studied under renowned professors of literature. They encouraged him to pursue graduate education. He responded by saving all he could from his part-time work at the Church’s original Deseret Gym, on the site now occupied by the current Church Office Building.
But great sorrow and hardship befell the Hinckley family during those Great Depression years, when their mother, Ada Bitner Hinckley, succumbed to cancer.
As her eldest son, Gordon played a parental role. That included dipping into his graduate-school fund to buy a dress for a younger sister.
After completing college, Gordon set his sights on a graduate degree in journalism. But a mission call came, and the graduate-school dream was pushed off.
Following missionary service in England, Gordon was ready to join his boyhood friend and missionary companion Homer Durham at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, in New York City. Homer fulfilled that dream, ultimately becoming president of Arizona State University.
Gordon, though, was asked to be one of the few non-General Authorities working at Church headquarters. His office was unfurnished; he had to go out and buy a cheap table, which had a warped top and uneven legs. He also brought an old typewriter from home. His salary was so small that he needed part-time work, teaching seminary to make ends meet.
For the next 23 years, Gordon worked as a Church employee. He learned about all aspects of Church headquarters, particularly by seeking wise mentors.
They were like graduate professors, teaching him on the job. And, because Gordon was an eager learner, his mentors steadily increased his responsibilities and opportunities to contribute. Naturally, he rose in the organization, blessing himself, his family and colleagues, and countless others.
President Hinckley’s story offers hope for us all, especially you graduates. This is a good time to be graduating. You are well-schooled, not only through your academic studies but also through your faithfulness to Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. The world needs you now more than ever.
The nature of the pandemic requires extra optimism and steady effort from us all. But we have the promise of rising on a steady upward course, even when COVID crosswinds blow. Our Savior and the Holy Ghost will guide us.
Graduates, go forward with faith, as President Hinckley did, and as President Russell M. Nelson is calling us to do. Things will work out, according to our faith and effort, in Heaven’s due time.
Try to avoid being like this fellow, who worried so much about professional disappointments that his hair fell out—for a time, from head to toe.
Be more like the Hinckleys and the little boy, who grew up to be a diligent BYU-Idaho graduate, a faithful father and Church member, and a university professor. There were many trials and doubts along the way. But he kept his hope, and his hair.
Like brave Esther, you graduates have come prepared for such a time as this. Heavenly Father knows where you are. As you act in faith, the Holy Ghost can guide you, and our Savior can open the way. I so testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.