Emily Stover DeRocco Speech, Employment & Training Administration (ETA)

David L. Carrasco Job Corps Center Graduation

Thank you for inviting me here today to the David L. Carrasco Job Corps Center graduation. I've been made to feel very welcome by the students and staff and I'd especially like to thank your center director Ms. Mary Young.

I have been told that the David L. Carrasco center has been ranked consistently among the very best Job Corps centers in the country, so I thought very hard about what I could say to such a terrific group of young people preparing for the future who have already learned so much.

You already know that opportunity exists for anyone with the right skills or the willingness to learn them. Many of you have jobs waiting for you have personally discovered that employers are looking for the right person with the right skills for the right job at the right time. And you've just lived the last several months or even years on center knowing that the mission of Job Corps is to create opportunities for young people to become the right person with the right skills at the right time to get the right job.

So what can I say to you to inspire you as you begin your new careers, enroll in the military, or continue on to further education?

How about a stroll down memory lane? Do you remember your first few days on center? Do you remember how homesick you were? Do you remember all the new faces and names you never thought you'd learn? Did you ever picture that this day would come?

Well, I'm here to tell you that the day has arrived. This is your time. This is your moment. As Job Corps students, you've come a long way baby.

And you did it with such compassion, honoring who you are and where you've come from, but most of all recognizing who you can be. I offer to you my sincerest congratulations!

It's a good thing you're ready for employment. We've been waiting for you. As we baby boomers, and I mean the large number of people born between 1945 and 1960, are reaching our retirement years and leaving the workforce, hospitals don't have enough nurses or medical technicians. The construction industry can't keep up with the boom in remodeling and new construction. School districts can't find enough teachers; and manufacturers are falling behind in the global marketplace because they can't find workers with the right skills for the high-tech factory.

The workforce needs you, and if you will take what you have learned at Job Corps and dedicate yourself, your future will be full of opportunities, you cannot even imagine as you sit here today.

In case there is anyone here today still so focused on the past you can't imagine these possibilities and all the good things the future has for you, I want to tell you a true story.

In the early 17th century, Sweden was busy building an empire in northern Europe. A strong navy was essential. In 1625 the Swedish king, Gustavus Adolphus, ordered new warships. Among them, a ship called the Vasa.

The Vasa was built at the Stockholm shipyard by an experienced Dutch shipbuilder. His experience was badly needed because the King wanted the Vasa to be the mightiest, most glorious warship in the world, and one that would be indestructible and would stand as a monument to the greatness of Sweden and its king.

Indeed, the Vasa was and is a grand and glorious ship.

Armed with 64 guns on two gun decks.

Housed 445 men, (including 145 Seamen and 300 soldiers).

Measured 225 feet long and 171 feet high.

It had 10 sails, six of which have been preserved and are the oldest sails in the world.

It wasn't just powerful. It was beautiful. All around the ship were beautiful and detailed carvings of animals and people to give the ship an air of distinction and majesty.

King Gustavus Adolphus eventually got his wish. The Vasa, built in 1628, nearly 400 years later, is still in tact and is as grand and glorious as it was the day it was completed. The warship, Vasa - is the only remaining, intact 17th century ship in the world. If you don't believe me, it is on display in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, in a museum. And that museum, built solely around that ship, is Scandinavia's most visited museum to this day.

In honor of King Gustavus Adolphus, I should end my story there. It would be a nice, short story about a man who had a vision and dedicated himself to seeing it through and how he met his goals and built something that lasted far beyond his life on earth. I could end the story there. But, I'm not going to. There is more to the story I think you should know.

Let's go back to the year 1628. Sunday, August 10th was the day of the Vasa's maiden voyage. The beaches around Stockholm were filled with spectators, among them foreign diplomats. The maiden voyage was to be an act of propaganda for the ambitious Swedish king.

The Vasa set sail and fired a salute. But, after only a few minutes of sailing, the ship began to lean and tilt. She righted herself slightly - and heeled over. Water gushed in through the open gun ports. And, to everyone's horror and disbelief, the glorious and mighty warship sank in a matter of minutes! It never even made it out of port. About 50 died in the disaster.

Let's fast-forward three hundred years.

In 1956, a shipwreck-specialist found the Vasa nearly 30 meters beneath the surface. After five years of hard work, and 333 years on the sea bottom, the Vasa emerged. The ship and all the finds were preserved - an effort of gigantic proportions. The Vasa is the biggest single object that has ever been preserved.

On the day the Vasa broke surface Sweden stood still. Press, radio and TV from all over the world were there. Swedish television broadcast live - something very unusual at the time. There was hardly a TV-set to be bought in Sweden - they were all sold out. The school children played truant and the industries stopped.

I tell you this story for one simple reason: One day in the past you left port. You might have sailed straight ahead. You might have tilted and up righted yourself, or you may have tilted and sank before you ever left sight of port. But here is the only thing I want to be sure you hear and remember from this speech. What happened to you in the past is in the past. It doesn't matter now. Today marks a new beginning.

I don't care how deep you were under water or how much mud and muck you were stuck in. Those experiences are what have brought you to where you are today and made you the person you are. What matters is what you do from today on.

Today is the day you officially rise above the surface. And with continued work and dedication, like the Vasa, you can someday stand as an example of power and determination, and will be a model that others can look on and admire. What matters is what you do from today on.

So it is a great privilege for me to be here to honor the graduates of the David L. Carrasco Job Corps center and their friends and family.

I also salute the staff of Job Corps who do so much to make this happen. Your involvement and commitment are the fundamentals that are the strength of Job Corps. Without you, Job Corps wouldn't succeed. It's as simple as that.

Graduates, I honor you today for your dedication and your spirit. This is your day.

And our commitment to you, as the leaders of Job Corps, is to continue to reach towards the future by strengthening the academic program and making sure that we are training students in the skills that will lead to jobs and sustainable careers.

The opportunities are there for that to happen. You've proven it today, by wearing these caps and gowns. With your spirit and your optimism beneath your wings, I am certain and I am proud that our Job Corps students will sail on to better and brighter futures.

Thank you and God bless.