Speaker tells grads: Never stop learning

By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- If you stop learning, you stop growing as a person, Frank C. Watson, the featured speaker at Youngstown State University's summer commencement, told nearly 500 graduates.
"Don't make the mistake of continuing too long doing what has made you successful in the past," Watson said at Saturday's commencement. "If you don't keep up-to-date, the fewer choices you will have as occupations and jobs change over time. If you are not learning, you are falling behind. Comfort and complacency are your enemies."
Watson received an honorary doctor of science degree, and was named by the YSU Alumni Society as its distinguished citizen of the year, the highest mark of distinction given by the university.
His background
Watson, a 1949 YSU graduate, went to work shortly after graduation at Youngstown Welding and Engineering Co., rising to the presidency in 1959, and retiring in 1988. He served as city manager of Canfield from 1989 to 1991. He has served on numerous boards, has chaired several YSU campaigns including one that raised $16 million to construct Stambaugh Stadium, and served from 1978 to 1987 on YSU's board of trustees.
While he has devoted much time to his job and his community, Watson said life is a juggling act.
Analogies
Watson described a person's career, work and volunteer activities as a rubber ball, and a person's family, friends and health as a beautiful, fragile glass ball.
"What happens if you drop the rubber ball?" he said. "It will bounce. Someone will pick it up for you, or it will stay put until you are ready to pick it up again. What happens if you drop the glass ball? It may smash into a million pieces. If you are lucky, it will only crack. But either way, it will never be the same."
Watson advised the graduates that they need an "attitude of gratitude" in their lives.
"We need to understand how fortunate we are," he said. "If it weren't for this faculty, if it weren't for your high school teachers, if it weren't for all those who came before us and made personal sacrifices, we would not be in the places we are today. We need to be grateful for our blessings."
No matter what those graduating Saturday decide to do in their future, they should never stop learning, Watson said.
"You will be in the business of learning from this day forward," he said. "... You have learned how to learn, and you will continually discover an ever-changing menu of what to learn as you navigate the twists and turns of your career."
skolnick@vindy.com