THESE VITAL SPEECHES

didn’t continue his career as a smalltown
Mississippi lawyer and state
legislator.
America’s best-known folk artist,
Anna May Robertson “Grandma” Moses,
spent her life as a rural New England
homemaker before finally picking
up a paint brush in her late 70s.
These icons, and many others, took
winding paths to their achievements
and contributions. But here’s the really
important thing: None of them were
the worse for it. Quite the contrary:
Their experiences shaped their direction
and what they became.
As John Grisham has said, “I seriously
doubt I would ever have written
the first story had I not been a lawyer. I
never dreamed of being writer. I wrote
only after witnessing a trial.”
In my own case, my three years in
divinity school were a complete waste
of time from a resume-building perspective.
But I took classes in counseling,
public speaking and fundraising,
and they taught me a great deal about
interacting and working with people.
That sensitivity toward people,
and those communication skills,
have proved immensely valuable to
my career in university leadership,
including as president of this university.
On a personal note, it was also
in divinity school where I met my
wife of 34 years and the love of my
life, Linda!
Picasso once said so beautifully:
“To know what you are going to draw,
you have to begin drawing.”
As you set out from the University
of Florida and into our world of constantly
evolving challenges … whenever
your inner voice changes things
up on you … or worse, when it doesn’t
seem to say anything at all … I want
you to hear my voice.
Hear this one-time aspiring scientist
and minister reminding you that if
you’re unable to follow your dreams or
passion, let them follow you …
Ride the uncertainty …
Find your new course …
Enjoy and believe in your new
dreams …
43
We knew you were prepared for
anything when we accepted you to the
University of Florida, and you have
proven us right. I could not be more
pleased to wish you Godspeed as you
move forward—eyes and hearts open
to your changing path and its many
wonderful possibilities.
***
I pray that although you may leave
Gainesville, the University of Florida
will always be your home, and that you
will return home often.
An old Irish blessing expresses my
personal affection for each one of you.
May the sun shine gently on your
face.
May the rain fall soft upon your fields.
May the wind be at your back.
May the road rise to meet you.
And may the Lord hold you in the hollow
of his hand.
Until we meet again.
Thank you and Congratulations,
Class of 2015! …
WINNER: DEDICATION/GROUNDBREAKING SPEECH
“Treating Zorro, Treating Me”
By Chris Moran for Jack Payne,
Senior Vice President for Agriculture & Natural Resources,
University of Florida
Delivered at the Clinical Skills Laboratory,
University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine,
Gainesville, Fla., Aug. 4, 2015
want everyone who’s ever loved a
I pet to experience what I experienced
in the UF small animal hospital a few
weeks ago.
Jim Lloyd helped me get my canine
companion of 15 years, a friend
through three different jobs in three
different states, from the back seat
of my car to the other tower in this
building.
The dean’s job description doesn’t
say “answer calls from SVP at 7 a.m.
on a Sunday to comfort him as his dog
is euthanized.”
But he’s a professional empathizer.
When he got the call, he immediately
called the small animal hospital and
told them that I was coming. I drove in,
with my dog Zorro, from Cedar Key
that Sunday morning and Jim Lloyd
was waiting for me by the front door.
What he told his staff, though, was
something really important—to “treat”
me as well as my dog. “Do what you do
every day,” is what he told them.
I tell you this because facilities are
important, but what’s going to make
this place really work is the people.
It’s where we’ll train people to be like
Jim Lloyd.
To be a competent veterinarian,
you need to be able to read an X-ray,
examine an animal and administer
medications. To be a great veterinarian,
you’ve got to know how to communicate
with someone who’s in tears
and emotional pain, like I was that
Sunday morning.
This new facility has a communications
skills room. I’m here to tell you
that it’s as important to me as any of
the machines. It’s one of those places
where observers can stand behind
glass unseen and watch colleagues and
students play out scenarios.
Like how to deal with those difficult
conversations about cost of treatment.
Or even worse, talking about a problem
money can’t solve.
So kudos to the visionaries behind
this space. Like the rest of the educators
here at Vet Med, they haven’t
settled for just producing technically
proficient practitioners. They’ve
CICERO 2016