The Mandate

The following is one of the many iterations of speeches that I gave to local Rotary Clubs before I departed Ohio:

Good Afternoon,

Dr. Patel’s introduction is truly humbling. I would like to take a moment and thank her for making this event possible. I would also like to thank the Rotary District Foundation and Governor Hayes for their flexibility and willingness to accept me as the 2011-2012 District 6650 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. I am grateful.

In one week, I will arrive at the University of Cambridge for what will be the newest chapter in my life. I look at my selection as the districts representative as a mandate. First, it is a mandate from my hometown of Kinsman to go forth and represent the club and the community at events such as this one. Second, it is a mandate from you, the members of the district, to go forth and represent the district and the values of Rotary, not only at Cambridge, but also throughout my journeys, now and in the future. I chose this map for its aged appearance. It represents to me the rich experiences and history of the world. If I was to characterize myself, I would not have a tan aged, hew, but rather some hew of green, indicative of my inexperience and malleability. Given this realization, I will speak on the world that I know today, and in one year, I will speak again on the world that I have found and explored and the people that I have met and friended.

I usually like to start with a quick survey of the audience:
How many of you have been to Kinsman?
You surely have outdone several other nameless clubs…..

Kinsman is a small agrarian community in northeastern Trumbull County. It is nestled along the Ohio-Pa border and is the main population center in the Joseph Badger Local School District. Its population hovers around 2000 people. Its most prominent resident was Clarence Darrow, who gained notoriety as a human rights and civil liberties advocate and litigator in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.In his second book, an autobiography, he wrote and I quote: “If I had chosen to be born I probably should not have selected Kinsman, Ohio, for that honor. Instead, I would have started in a hard and noisy city where the crowds surged back and forth as if they knew where they were going, and why.” In contrast, I would not have selected anywhere but Kinsman to grow up.

My experience in Kinsman was not suffocating as Darrow characterized it. We surely have our share of fields, but the town also has much more. It is a town committed to service whether to the community or to the nation. It is people committed to their neighbors. The town celebrate Darrow’s boyhood home on Main Street, known widely as the Octagon House, but I remember him less fondly than the little old lady, Mrs. Brown, who insisted that her home be open year round to strangers. Kinsman has more churches per capita than most towns in America, and it is these churches which help to instill and reinforce the broad sense of community.We also have a truly one of a kind Carnegie library, where I spent much of my youth reading, learning, and exploring the world beyond Kinsman. It is a library which embodies the vision of a community that aspired for something better in its future generations.

As an anecdote, when I was in second grade, I won tickets from the Kinsman Public Library to go to my first Indians game with my father. We settled into our seats and the gentleman next to us asked where I was from. I told him Kinsman and he responded that he understood how I read so many books: “There are only two things to do in Kinsman: Read books and watch the corn grow.” Today, I would take exception: There are soybeans behind the house.

Our library is paired with a school district which is stocked with superb educators like my mother. While Darrow was suffocated, I was empowered. We also have an excellent Dairi Oasis, but I digress.We are also a town committed to service. Some of my earliest memories take me back to the town square on Memorial Day where the local veterans from the American Legion Harry Lee’s Post 506 would render honors at the veteran’s memorial. The Legion is an organization like the Rotary that afforded me tremendous opportunities, but more importantly, it is an organization and an entity that guided me to service in the military. Like the Legion, Rotary also impacted my life and shaped the way in which I have pursued my greatest ambitions. My first experience with Rotary beyond the annual Chicken BBQ was with RYLA. At the time, RYLA took place in the depths of February at the Timberlanes of Salem. Beyond the wonderful pool at the Salem Community Center and the new acquaintances, the real value of RYLA came in a single exercise. We were told to write a life mission statement, which I carry in my wallet to this day:

“My life mission is to live a fulfilling life while maintaining my values of hard-work, service, and leadership by example in all that I do.”

This commitment matched favorably with the mission of the U.S. Naval Academy which strives to “graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career of naval service and have potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.” Emulating the tradition of military service within my family and within my community, I accepted an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. I followed in the footsteps of my father, a U.S. Navy veteran and boiler technician. As you can imagine, I experienced a slight culture shock. My time at the Naval Academy was filled with failures, challenges, and triumphs.

The first year, or plebe year, dragged on for what seemed an eternity. An eternity captured in my disgruntled appearance. However, I was well prepared. My mother would often scold me for wearing shoes inside or not folding my laundry. Some things were just like home. During my 2nd summer, I went to sea for the first time aboard LSD-42, USS Germantown, a dock landing ship. I quickly fell in love with ocean as many romantics have done. At the conclusion of my second year, I signed my final commitment papers, agreeing to serve 5 years of active duty upon graduation. I had little reservation. I had committed long before that point.With the paperwork complete, I enjoyed the many aspects of Naval Academy life. These included everything from formal parades to Ring Dance, a formal ball, marking the day in which I could officially don my class ring. A ring inscribed with our class motto: Dom Respiramos Defendemus. “While We breathe, We Defend” My final summer in Annapolis found me traveling in Vietnam and Cambodia, operating on a submarine in the Western Pacific, and serving as an action officer at a Federal Advisory Committee to the Chief of Naval Operations. My senior year commenced and before I knew it. I reached my final Army-Navy football game and was home for Christmas.

In the interim, I received confirmation of not only the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship but also, the Nolan Scholarship, which will fund my 2-years of study at Cambridge. The fall was a period of reflection for me. For me my pursuit of scholarships served as an epiphany for me. I was fortunate to be selected as a finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship. It was at this interview that I realized what I valued more than anything else: my community. During the interview, I made the best mistake of my life. When asked how I planned to impact the world and where I found my calling, I answered unequivocally: "I want to go back to Northeastern Ohio. I want to go back and mentor and guide. I want to go back and give voice to people. I want to make sure that we don’t have one student at the Naval Academy, but instead many. I want to make sure that we have multiple people interviewing for this scholarship. But at the end of the day, if I don’t get the scholarship, I still get to wake up Monday morning and put on my uniform and I am ok with that." Fortunately, the committee found me unworthy.

May and graduation arrived quite quickly. I had the honor of leading my class onto the field at graduation. I received my commission, my first salute, and celebrated the milestone with my wonderful, supportive family.While my time at the Naval Academy was constrained, I took the lessons of Kinsman and the commitment to service with me. These lessons of education, service, and community inspired me to action.

As mentioned earlier, I spent 4 weeks last summer in Vietnam and Cambodia as part of a U.S. Navy Language, Regional Expertise, and Cultural Immersion trip. It was my first trip outside of the U.S.

In Vietnam, and in particular, Quang Tri province, in Central Vietnam, we worked in an isolated rural village called Khe Luo. Here, the central state had built schools, but it provided no resources, a ploy to appease international criticism of the state’s discriminatory treatment of indigenous tribes. The school was actually being used as a chicken coup. We were to work with the locals to rebuild the trail to the school, to paint, and to clean, but this short term commitment became something more. Moved by the children who assisted us and their thirst for knowledge, we paired with Global Community Service Foundation to provide books to schools in the area.
This initiative started Bridges Through Education Corporation, a 501-C3 non-profit organization, intended to support educational opportunity in developing areas. While our initial shipments to Vietnam were not immensely successful, I and another Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from the Naval Academy intend to return to Vietnam in the coming year and revitalize our supply changes and connections.

Studying at Cambridge will afford me with such opportunity; it will also provide an opportunity to learn from a country not so dissimilar from the United States. For instance, Clare College, my assigned college, has an immense library like Kinsman. It also has a militant dining room like the one at the Naval Academy. Once I overcome the language barrier, I am told that I will adjust quickly.While in the UK, I would also like to explore the British approach to industrial regeneration and business incubation as part of my course in development studies. As we are all aware, our area from Kinsman to Canton is suffering from economic decline. I hope to take their approaches, programming, and lessons and juxtapose them against local development initiatives. While my impact will not be immediate, I plan to return to the area after the conclusion of my naval service and work to turn the tide of human capital flight out of our area. I want to work to end the pattern of escapism, which plagues my fellow youth and our communities today.

After Cambridge, I will report to the USS Fort McHenry, a dock landing ship, as a Surface Warfare Officer. The Fort McHenry is intended to support amphibious operations by providing a platform for airlift as well as a well deck which can launch smaller transport vehicles to coastal areas. Traditionally, this type of ship was utilized to land Marines on hostile shores, but today, it helps the U.S. Navy fulfill its core competency of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief in places like Haiti and around the world. As President John F. Kennedy said at Annapolis in 1963, “I can imagine no more rewarding career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think I can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: ‘I served in the United States Navy.’”

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your service to your community and our world. At the same time, I want to issue a challenge. Engage your youth. Challenge them. Bring them into the fold. Show them that it is ok to stay that there is work to be done in District 6650. Demonstrate that they can make a difference through service. My generation merely needs a challenge to meet. Thank you.

At this time, I will open the floor for questions.