Penn State Lehigh Valley held its annual commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 7 at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem. The campus awarded associate and bachelor’s degrees to over 100 students.
The featured speaker for the event was Bill Phillips, vice president and editor-in-chief of Men’s Health, the world’s largest men’s magazine brand. Phillips is a 1991 graduate of Penn State where he majored in English.
To prepare for the event, Phillips met with a group of Penn State Lehigh Valley students to find out what they wanted to hear from their commencement speaker. Based on their feedback, he tailored his remarks. Phillips also incorporated videos into his presentation that featured questions from the students.
During his remarks, Phillips described to new graduates the top 10 things their college professors forgot to teach them while sharing details of his own personal and professional journey. He challenged the class of 2016 to be leaders in their field; to raise expectations and then exceed them. Phillips reminded the graduates that talent always rises and that they make their own “weather.”
He closed his remarks by sharing his guide for life, which is a quote from his Penn State classmate’s poetry:
“The wise step forwardNot knowing the futureWhen they see an opening door.”–Andrew Zimnoch