Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this very special day. Rand Ziegler, Baker’s vice president and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has been a judge for this competition for six years. Each year, he comes back talking about the incredible students he has met and how hard it was to select the winners. After reading about each of you and meeting some of you today, I would agree with Rand. You are incredible people. My sincerest congratulations to each of you for being selected. Congratulations to your parents, as well. I am sure they are very proud of you today, and we applaud them for their part in raising such outstanding individuals. We also recognize the Lawrence Journal-World for its leadership and generosity in establishing this award. Thank you for your support of these students.

Academic All-Stars, you are our future, and you are our hope for a better tomorrow. These are certainly interesting times, and in times like these, we need people like you — people who are smart, involved, caring, aware and self-motivated. Individuals who can think and think critically, can communicate effectively, can make the very hard decisions and can lead with confidence and integrity. You are those future leaders.

The writing topic you were given for your essay was timely and intriguing. You live in a generation of instant access. Your expectation for a response or answer is immediate. When I began my career, mail and telephone were the primary ways of communicating. When you had a business communication, you wrote a letter, typed it on a typewriter (an IBM Selectric if you were fortunate enough to have one!), mailed it and then waited for a response to be written and mailed back. And your expectation of a response was a week or more. Now, with e-mail, texting and instant messaging, our expectation is immediate. I have a friend who tells me I have poor text etiquette because I am so slow about responding — sometimes up to an hour wait! For you, I cannot imagine how much more quickly your world is going to move and frankly, how you are going to cope.

With that in mind, I would challenge you to be a bit different — to take some time out of your busy and fast moving schedules to reflect and enjoy life. My husband and I have two dachshunds, Frankie and Morgan, and they love to go on walks on Baker’s campus. As many of you know, the Baker campus in Baldwin City is a beautiful park-like setting with wonderful trees complete with lots of red squirrels. Frankie and Morgan believe the campus is their personal dog-walking area. The squirrels believe they own the campus and, being around students all day, the squirrels are not afraid of anything or anyone. So, on our walks, the squirrels will wait until we are very close before they run for the tree. Of course, that incites Frankie and Morgan, and they really want to pursue the chase. They will run to the tree, look up and try to find where the squirrel is hiding. In turn, we look up too, and it is amazing what you see when you look up — the leaves, the squirrels, the sky, the people around you — the beauty of the world. It takes my eyes away from the sidewalk, away from the ground, away from my thoughts about a business day, even away from a text I may be sending.

My challenge for you is simple. Look up. Acknowledge those people around you who support you and who love you. Say “thank you” and cherish your time with them. Look up. Imagine possible solutions, new ideas and creative thoughts. Dream dreams and dare to dare. Look up. Understand we have an obligation to protect and sustain the resources of this universe. Recycle, reuse and replenish.

You have the tools and technology at your disposal that will make your lives easier and yet more complex. You have the abilities to succeed, and yet you will be asked to do more and more because of who you are. You will have many opportunities and you will have to make hard choices. I wish you well with those choices and encourage you to take a break, take a breath, take a walk and just “look up.”

Congratulations again and all the best.