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Canfield grads get life lessons from 1972 alumnus
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By BOB JACKSON
news@vindy.com
CANFIELD
Canfield High School graduate Dr. Robert G. Duffett had some words of awakening for the school’s Class of 2011: Life isn’t all about you.
Duffett, who graduated in 1972, is president of Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, S.D., and was the speaker at Sunday’s graduation ceremony in Cardinal Stadium. He said he was thrilled to return to his hometown for the commencement and got a special kick out of walking across the football field to the speakers’ platform.
“I had the privilege of playing in the first football game here at Cardinal Stadium,” he said.
An author of several books and scholarly articles over the years, Duffett said he researched several other commencement speeches, seeking ideas and inspiration for his own remarks. However, he found most of them either too cliched or too trite and “triumphal.” So he came up with two pieces of advice that he chose to share with the nearly 300-member graduating class.
“Keep going,” was his first tip, likening life after high school to a relay race in track or swimming.
Read the full story with photos Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.