Commencement Speech to United States University

United States University is a small college in San Diego specializing in nursing, health sciences, and liberal arts degrees and certifications. Its curriculum and structure attracts many working adults and also immigrant communities. This is the speech I presented.

United States University Graduation – October 23, 2011

Thank you and I am so blessed to be here today. Today is a day for two things: celebration, and moving forward. Congratulations to the United States University class of 2011! You have come so far and overcome so much.

In fact, you have overcome more than your average graduate. With the program here emphasizing health sciences, and nursing, and management, and liberal arts, it is a rigorous program. It is also designed to reach OUT to the Latino and Asian communities, including those new to the United States.

That is why I love the name of this school, United States University, because that is what the United States does: reaches out, grants opportunity, and empowers you to make the world a better place.

In order to graduate, you needed intelligence, and smarts, and hard work. But you needed one more thing, all of you: you needed the ability to overcome adversity. You needed the ability to push forward if times got rough or it looked like you couldn’t make it.

I can relate. I face a certain level of adversity every day. You see, when I was born I had a birth defect. I was born in the era where a medicine called Thylidamide led many babies to be born with birth defects. I was born missing both of my arms and my right leg.

When I was four I moved from my native Medellín, Colómbia to the United States. I moved to California and received free prosthetics and physical therapy from the Shriners Hospitals. I’ve endured multiple surgeries and would not have made it without the help of caring, informed nurses and health professionals.

Let me show you how my prosthetics work. <Demonstrate>  Just as these arms Stay Connected, you too must Stay Connected. To your faculty and classmates; to the lessons learned here in classrooms and labs; and to your families who have supported you Every Little Step of the way. How about a round of applause for your family and loved ones?

But as you celebrate, you also move forward. Stay Connected to the spirit that helped you overcome sleepless night and tough tests. It’s a PART of you, it’s in your makeup, it’s in your DNA. It’s who we are as a people. We know struggle. We know adversity. Our heritage is a HISTORY of rising above challenges and succeeding in the United States. Carry that with you and become the next great American leader.

Now, I know that wherever I go publicly people may stare because they’re not used to seeing prosthetic arms or a prosthetic leg. That’s ok. You know why? Because it’s good to Stand Out. You should Dare To Be Different. While most people are out having a good time, or complaining about society, you’re working. You’re educating your MIND. You’re becoming a LEADER.  YOU’RE the one people are going to look to for help or when times get tough. Dare To Be Different – help solve society’s problems and be a leader in your world.

And finally, don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t. As an infant, the doctors told my family I can’t live a normal life. I moved to America. As a boy I was told I could not participate in a sport I love, baseball. I got a job as an usher with the San Diego Padres and worked my way up to Manager of Latino Affairs. I was told society is too cynical and doesn’t like feel-good stories anymore. I wrote a book called Swinging for the Fences and in three years we have sold over 1,000 copies.

I say all this not to impress you but to impress UPON you that you can do anything. One more thing. In my job I am so blessed because the Padres care about the community and look for community causes to support. It’s my job to look for those groups and organizations within the Latino community. What we find is while there is a great need, there are also many opportunities.

 Opportunities to serve and make an impact. You will all be successful.  Take those same traits – Staying Connected and Daring To Be Different – and use them in giving back. Find an organization or even a person who can benefit from your knowledge and talents. Make it your mission to help make their lives better.

Today we celebrate and we also move forward. It’s the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. You can do anything at all. Never let them tell you ‘no’ and ALWAYS, Always Keep Swinging. God bless you and thank you.

When Quitting Is Not An Option

The following is a timeline of my participation in today's Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Half-Marathon Relay. Some times are exact and some are approximate:

4:17am - I awake with a combined sense of urgency and excitement. It's race day, the day for which I've been training for six months. Three minutes later I realize my relay partner, Karen Madden, had set my cell phone alarm just in case. The message on the screen: "Wake up, bitch!"

4:57 - Some people eat bananas on race day. Forget that. I eat Strawberry Pop Tarts.

5:20 - I have ten minutes to walk down the cul de sac and cross the street before the 11 bus to downtown arrives. I've lightly stretched but realize halfway down I didn't stretch my back extensively. Walking briskly without fully stretching is a no-no for me.

6:45 - After many delays and proving that last year's ineptitude was no fluke, City Transit takes me on a trolley, then a shuttle, then another trolley just to get to Fashion Valley Mall.

7:18 - There are no signs anywhere indicating where at Fashion the relay transition zone is located. But a nice store employee who has let me in to use the restroom points the way.

8:55 - I walked way too fast up the hill to reach Friars Road because K-Mad was texting saying she was getting closer. So as I waited I continually stretched and then was thrilled to see, in succession, Krystal DiStefano, Alison Glabe, Nina "Peanut" Tarantino, and shortly thereafter, Katie Leisz.

8:57 - Karen arrives with Colleen McEniry in tow and I double fist-bump them. Ashley Schamu, a.k.a. Scham-Wow, is Colleen's relay partner so she's there too. Our co-worker Joslin Joseph takes a group picture and Karen admonishes me: "No stopping for chit-chats."

9:00 - I am off at 9 on the dot and two things surprise me: the crowd is cheering and the road is slanted, dipping east to west. Both have me walking much faster than I would prefer at the outset.

9:12 - It's sunny but with a Fresh, cool breeze, almost like an autumn day. This is good. The roads are very slanted and uneven and I can feel my left (good) leg is overcompensating, tightening up my lower back right muscles. This is bad. Very bad.

9:27 - The streets have flattened out and I'm in a better groove finally. I stop periodically to loosen the back and keep it stretched out. This helps, as does the DJ who has set up on the sidewalk to play energetic, fist--pumping music.

9:49 - A man runs up beside me and has his wife take a picture of us as we walk forward. A girl grabs my shoulder, snaps a picture as she speed-walks and says, "You're awesome."  I respond, "You're hot."

10:17 - We are passing Morena Blvd. and again the road is sloping. This is making me walk awkwardly and my back tenses up.

10:31 - I am pleasantly surprised to see an old Access Center colleague, Sandra Mendez, running in her first marathon, plus people are seeing my Notre Dame mesh shorts and yelling, "Go Irish!"  LIKE.

10:45 - My right leg, Black Max, is getting plenty of attention and cheers from runners and spectators alike. But I'm noticing that my prosthetic sock is slipping downwards from my hip, probably just caused by heat and duress. What this does is force me to stop, pull my hip up so my real leg is not sticking within the artificial one, and then take a few steps to settle back in. It's not painful but is annoying.

11:05 - I am getting doused in water by a team of volunteers in an area called "Margaritaville". They are blaring Jimmy Buffet music and, in true Parrot Head fashion, are regaled in Hawaiian shirts. I see Bruce and Patty Whitlow, parents of my friend Kimmy, and they give me a quick hug and word of encouragement.

11:12 - There is a concrete median and I see where runners have turned and are now walking opposite of my direction, as a loop. I am tempted to just cross that median. I'm sorry.

11:17 - I see two young ladies holding signs. One says: "Go Faster!"   The other reads: "That's What She Said."   I LOL.

11:20 - I am barely making that loop and, brother, I am hurting. My right hip feels strained. My left ankle feels wobbly, like I just want to roll over on it. Whereas I had been answering well-wishers with a clear-voiced "Thank You!", I now find it hard to breathe.

11:23 - This feels endless. We are near Mile 12 of the 13-mile course for relayists, but I feel spent. I can't...do...this. I'm not really walking...I'm...lurching forward.

11:25 - A lady is walking her dog near Sea World Drive and starts walking beside me. I nod politely. She then blurts out, "So...what the hell happened to you?"  If Peanut were there, frankly, the lady would've been punched in the mouth.

11:27 - I'm not going to make it. I just want to quit. An elderly man rides up next to me on his bicycle and asks if he can escort me part of the way. Sure, why not? I see he has two small American flags on his bike so I say, "Hey, man, what are you gonna do with an extra flag?"  He replies, "Nothing, man, you want one?"  I say Yeah and so if you see pictures of me waving a flag, that's how I got it.

11:29 - Good friend Trina, as is her custom, waits at the beginning of the final mile and brings forth many cheers and camera-clicks. Suddenly I feel good. Exhausted but motivated. I can load up for one last stretch.

11:31 - Two volunteers ask if they can walk with me. One equally worn out walker sees me, starts crying, and just gives a thumbs up. I think about how blessed I am to live in the greatest country in the world and how here no dream or goal is absurd or unattainable.

11:34 - The thought strikes me that a race course is America. Runners and walkers, complete strangers, exhorting each other - black, white, Latino, Asian, gay, straight, disabled, non-disabled, men, women, old, young. This is Americans at their finest.

11:35 - The Finish Line is a few feet away and the dual emcees remember me from last year, I think. The female one is prepared with some dance moves so I respond by shaking my thang.

11:37 - I see my main Ollie Neglerio from Competitor Group - the awesome company who puts these races on - and he takes official pictures of my Finish Line routine. Swing, shimmy, point to the heavens, shake the torso, half-spin, point like Justin Timberlake.

11:40 - I officially cross the line, probably figuratively and literally, and my buddy Colleen McDonald stops filming my dancing and places a medal over my neck. She has been a great friend since graduate school at USF and I'll always treasure this great memory, especially when our other close friend, Jonathan Sandoval, completed the full maraathon just a few minutes later.

We did it. We scratched and clawed and trained and prayed and fought through adversity and we did it. I used to laugh at marathon runners because they looked so miserable but now I get it. It's the sheer challenge of putting your body through that and emerging victorious. It's never giving up and never giving in. It's the American way.

Anyone can do it and everyone should try it. I believe so strongly in that, I'm working on a book about it. Keep your eyes peeled for that. But this isn't about shameless self-promoting, it's about reaching deep down and gutting your way to a triumph.

A marathon is just like life. It requires discipline, heart, tenacity, preparation, desire, and the will to not give up. Don't ever give up.

We did it. And so can you.