'Don't Panic--You're Prepared,' Alumna and Google Executive Tells University of Richmond Graduates
May 9, 2005
“Don’t panic, because believe it or not you are well prepared” to succeed in a world of continual change and continuing learning, a human resources manager of Google told some 840 graduates at the University of Richmond’s 175th commencement May 8.
Margaret J. Thomas, a 1992 Richmond graduate, explained that she was nowhere near the top of her class and finished college without a job, but found meaningful work and prospered when she recognized that panic only distracted her from opportunities.
Thomas advised graduates to think like Google, a company that went from a startup to one of the world’s most valuable in seven years and which is pursuing a mission to “organize all the world’s information and make it universally accessible.” Google is not panicked by the size of the mission, Thomas said, but focuses instead on acquiring knowledge to keep growing.
“In this fast-paced, digital economy, you and Google face a similar challenge. Your livelihood, like Google’s, will depend on your ability to learn and adapt to changing world.
Like Google, you will need to continue to get smarter and grow,” she said.
“Very few people work in the same companies or specialty all their lives anymore. Your ability to serve ways of change will determine how well you do as you change jobs every decade, every five years or every three months,” Thomas explained.
“Your education here at Richmond and your experiences to date have given you the tools you need to succeed in this world, to serve the ways of change that you will surely face. Your ability to learn and adapt will see you through the most unexpected challenges. That explains how an English major can succeed in a technology company, and how a 7-year-old startup can change the world,” she said.
“So don’t panic, because you are prepared for what lies ahead--you are prepared to learn,” Thomas said. Quoting Louis Pasteur’s “Chance favors the prepared mind,” Thomas said she did not need to wish the graduates good luck. “It is headed your way already.”
Richmond awarded five honorary degrees at the commencement ceremony. Recipients included: Thos. Capps, president and CEO of Dominion Resources Inc.; Marian Grace Collins Lindblom, president of Central Communications Network Inc.; Dr. Kwang-I Yu, a computer scientist and founder of Paracel Inc.; Robert L. Burrus, chairman and partner of McGuire Woods LLP; and Princess Cecilia de Medici, international patron of the arts and herself an accomplished pianist.