Good morning, buenos dias, and yá’át’ééh abíní, Graduates of the Class of 2021:

“Invest in a low-cost, S&P 500 index fund, starting as soon as you can.” Warren Buffet provides this as advice to the overwhelming majority of individual investors, and as an economist, I cannot overstate the significance and mathematical beauty of compound interest, which Einstein purportedly called the greatest force in the universe, and from which you can, in the most literal sense of the word, exponentially benefit by starting to invest as early in your life as is feasible.

The rest of my advice, however, is based solely on wisdom obtained from my experiences and, later, a little help from perhaps the most famous economic philosopher in history. My advice is as follows:

• Hold on to the close friendships you’ve made here
• Be curious and explore the world around you
• Show gratitude and respect
• And be a person worthy of gratitude respect

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There are a rare few times in life when you go through as many shared experiences, struggles, and personal growth as you have with the best friends that you have made here. Work hard to hold close these relationships throughout time and across geography.

Travel, or should I say, explore:

I don’t suppose this is a big ask for a graduate of Fort Lewis or anyone who spends much time in Durango but, wherever the next chapter of your life may lead you, hold on to the adventurous spirit of this place.

My grandma is 88. She’s lived in the same small town in Ohio for 87 of those years, and she has lived in the same house in which she was literally born, for 77 of those 88 years. I say “Explore” instead of “Travel” because, although there are certainly many amazing adventures to be had by traveling around the world or across the country, my grandma’s life experiences have shown me that there is no shortage of adventures to be had in your local community or even your own back yard.

So be curious and explore the world around you.

Explore life’s opportunities as well. You have so much possibility before you and it’s okay if you don’t know what you want your life’s work to be. I’ve got about a decade on most of you and a slightly fancier robe, but don’t let it fool you: I still don’t know what my life’s work will be. Add another decade and you’ll find even more fascinating and motivated people in same boat, but in this realm, you truly have the upper hand. Take advantage of your youth to explore various careers and industries, find smart people to work with, and don’t be afraid of making changes as long as you’re continuing to learn and grow in some area of your life.

Show gratitude.

Hopefully you’ve discovered that you have obtained much more than a piece of paper over the last several years, but we all know that you probably wouldn’t be here if not for the diploma. There are countless people to thank for that piece of paper, and you can start with yourselves. Ultimately, you held yourselves responsible for showing up, meeting deadlines, and finishing everything you needed to finish to be sitting here today. You weren’t alone, however, and today’s achievement is also a celebration for your parents, other family members, and support groups who helped you along the way. Many of those people can’t be here today, but let’s all please take a moment to turn and show our gratitude to those who have helped make this special day possible.

The thank yous for your diploma don’t stop there. You can of course thank the College and School of Business leadership – President Stritikus, Provost Nixon, and Dean Elias – for guiding our institution. You can thank the faculty who, hopefully, gave you not just knowledge, but critical thinking skills, curiosity, and a desire to keep learning more about the world. These thank yous are the easy ones, however. For that diploma, there are thanks to be given to people across the campus and around the world.

Sharon Doty and Patrick Flores are the School of Business department secretaries: they keep this place running and all of us faculty members sane, allowing us to focus on you and your education. Lakpa Sherpa, one of many among the team of custodial staff who clean our buildings every night, ensures we have a clean and comfortable environment in which to work and learn. Campus police, groundskeepers, food staff, those in the Registrar’s Office keeping you on track, the list goes on and on, and these are only a few of the people at Fort Lewis.

We live in an interconnected world, where we can be grateful to people who we’ll likely never meet, but who have all come together through voluntary exchange in this global economy to deliver that diploma to you. To the paper mill operator for manufacturing the fancy paper; to the captains of the transnational cargo ships, delivery drivers crisscrossing the country, and supply chain managers for getting various materials and the final diplomas where they need to be throughout the entire process and eventually to Durango; to these individuals and many more – individuals of different nationalities, races, religions, political ideologies, and all creeds – we can be thankful. There is no shortage for how often and to whom you can show gratitude.

Make yourself worthy of being one of those people. Find an important problem to solve and pursue its solution with diligence and integrity. By solving problems and by helping others solve their problems, you will find meaning in your work and achieve success.

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I told you I would have a little help from one of the most famous economic philosophers in history. I’m sorry to tell you this will not be Bob Dylan or some other pop star often quoted in graduation speeches, but Adam Smith. Although most famous for his book The Wealth of Nations which formalized modern economic thought, over 250 years ago he wrote another book called The Theory of Moral Sentiments. In it, he wrote “Man naturally desires not only to be loved, but to be lovely.” Smith put in words our desires to be liked, cared for, and respected by others, but more importantly, to go about our lives and our work in a way that make us worthy of that care and respect.

To put it another way, worry less about your reputation – that is, what others think of you – and more about your character – who you really are and the standards to which you hold yourself. If you are kind and just, if you help others and prioritize meaningful relationships, if you show gratitude, and if you use your curiosity to explore the world – however big your world may be – and the many important problems in it, then your reputation and success will take care of itself.

So, if you follow the initial advice on investing and compound interest, you will likely end up with a lot of money of money in your bank account, which, no doubt, would be nice. But if you follow Adam Smith’s and my advice on the rest, you’ll be rich.