I like to start my day reading \u201cLight\u2019s Daily Dose.\u201d\u00a0Author Light Watkins\u2019\u00a0daily\u00a0message is short and impactful. The other day, as I was thinking about new year\u2019s resolutions\u00a0— the hopes\u00a0and aspirations\u00a0for each new year —\u00a0I was\u00a0inspired\u00a0by\u00a0a\u00a0Light\u2019s\u00a0Daily Dose\u00a0email\u00a0titled, \u201cBe that person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It begins with Light sharing a tweet from an author named Clint Smith. It said, \u201cOne of the reasons I\u2019m a writer today is because I had a\u00a0teacher in\u00a0third grade who looked at my poem about clouds\u00a0and said, \u201cYou can be a writer when you grow up.\u201d Powerful words of inspiration and aspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I smiled and thought\u00a0immediately about the people\u00a0in my life who encouraged\u00a0me. And I thought about the truly remarkable ethic of care that guides this university. It is exactly why our strategic plan is named \u201cUnlocking Untapped Potential.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take, for example, this letter written to a freshman seminar instructor by Logan \u2013 a May 2018 graduate. And I know in my heart the inspiring message that was the essence of this letter could have been written to anyone at Fort Hays State University:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I just wanted to reach out to let you know that I am doing well. My life is busier and fuller than I ever could have imagined. And through it all, I have never forgotten what you did for me. During freshman seminar, we took a self-evaluation quiz. Afterwards, I met with you in your office, where we learned that the evaluation gave me a 25% chance of ever earning a college degree. I was devastated. Until I heard your response: \u2018That\u2019s a bunch of BS.\u2019\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Those words gave me motivation like you wouldn\u2019t believe. You gave me confidence that I could actually graduate. You even gave me a graduation tassel to keep me focused on that goal.\u00a0This past May, I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology, a minor in Business Administration, and a certificate in Geographic Information Systems.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I never thought I would be half as successful as I have already been, and each time I achieve something new in my career, the first thing I think of is my time at FHSU, sitting in your office, scared that I would never graduate. I think of the motivation and confidence you provided that put me in the position I am in today. That graduation tassel still hangs on my wall as a reminder of all the opportunities I had because you invested in me.” \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hearing these testimonies to our university\u2019s ethic of care never gets old. I savor each remarkable story as my heart basks in gratitude for this community and our relentless focus on creating a university with a level of personalized care that connects deeply and sincerely and seeks to lift others up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Light wrote, \u201cthe world is full of folks discouraging, criticizing and snuffing out dreams and hopes in the name of being realistic. But it can always use more people who encourage and inspire.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n I cannot think of a better way to lead forward into 2023 than to\u00a0resolve to\u00a0be a force for good\u00a0in the lives of\u00a0all who cross our paths\u00a0this year.\u00a0Won\u2019t you join me to be that person for someone today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I like to start my day reading \u201cLight\u2019s Daily Dose.\u201d\u00a0Author Light Watkins\u2019\u00a0daily\u00a0message is short and impactful. The other day, as I was thinking about new… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12323,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mason-Tisa-040A6662.jpg?fit=750%2C1050&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70563,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70562\/revisions\/70563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}