Welcome to the iSchool's third virtual convocation ceremony. I am Dr. Sandy Hirsch, and it is my privilege to serve as professor and director of the School of Information. Today represents the culmination of all your hard work, and I am extremely proud of all of you. Today we are gathered for a convocation, which is a calling together. I am joined today by Dean Mary Scutton, graduating student speaker Estra Nallar, and our invited convocation speaker, Dr. Deborah Wallace. I am delighted to have them to be part of this very special ceremony, and we will end today's convocation with a special video dedicated to our graduates and prepared by our student leaders. We are here today to celebrate your achievements, which you accomplish with the love and support of dear family, friends, and colleagues. Many of you have thanked your parents and siblings, spouses, partners, and children on our graduation profile pages of the virtual convocation website. I've read many of these, and it's been very heartwarming to read your posts. I hope that those who are special to you have joined this session today to celebrate with you and family and friends who are online. Please do post a congratulatory message on your graduate's page after the ceremony. You can also hear each graduate's name read out with their degree on the virtual convocation website, and you will also find the recordings of the speeches from today's convocation on the virtual convocation website tomorrow. This is the school's 48th convocation since we first achieved accreditation. Our mission is to educate information professionals who are highly competent in virtual and physical environments and who contribute to the well-being of their global communities, and there's so much for us to celebrate as a school. We are very proud to have been selected for another prestigious award from the Online Learning Consortium. This time we received the Excellence in Faculty Development for Online Teaching Award. This national award recognizes our school's dedication to delivering exceptional online programs. In addition to our nationally ranked and accredited MLIS degree, we offer several other online programs, including a teacher librarian credential, a master's in archives and records administration, a gateway PhD program, which we run in partnership with the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, a post master's certificate in library and information science program, and we have new certificates in big data and also one in digital assets and services. And today we are honoring those who have completed doctorates, post master's certificates, and master's degrees, including our first graduates to earn both the MLIS and the advanced certificate in digital assets and services at the same time. Since all of our programs are delivered online, we have students from nearly all 50 states and 20 countries. We are grateful they've entrusted their education to us. Our graduates today represent a cross-section of the overall student body with graduates from all over the United States and several countries, including Canada and Korea. One graduate shared on her graduate profile that she met classmates from all over the world, including the United States, England, France, India, and her home province in Canada. The diversity of perspectives present in our online programs is a unique benefit to our students. The graduate explained the ability to collaborate and learn from others working in libraries of all types across the world with different demographics and different funding, strengthened my ability to problem solve, think creatively, and to engage in the endless possibilities of what libraries provide. Our graduates are truly serving our global communities. Graduates also shared some of the things that they liked best about online learning and their experience in the program. Graduates shared that they liked taking courses on a variety of topics, especially technical ones. Another student said the flexibility of when I could work on class assignments and participate in lectures and discussions was a benefit. Another student liked being connected to students and professors from different places with different experiences and dreams who were willing to share and encourage all of us. And another student liked the flexibility of pursuing rigorous education at the graduate level without having to leave my full-time job. And finally, another student liked being able to choose from a wide variety of courses and ultimately create a learning experience that will suit my future goals. I also appreciated our student or graduate's honesty in their comments about what they're looking forward to next now that they've completed the program. I'm sure you can sympathize with a student who is happy that there would no longer be more term papers that they needed to work on. I hope you will visit our virtual convocation website and peruse their graduate profiles. We offer our students a broad range of courses enabling them to design their curriculum to best meet their needs and interests. As an example, our courses range from the study of early manuscripts and books to the management and curation of digital assets. We offer many outstanding opportunities for students to get involved in the school such as serving on the editorial board of our school's student research journal, helping our students as peer mentors and participating in award-winning student chapters of professional associations. Our school offers many ways to engage with other information professionals and to keep current, such as our highly successful Virtual Library 2.0 conferences. As new alumni, it is my hope that you will participate in the upcoming library 2.017 mini-conferences. The next one will be held on June 1st and will be focused on digital literacy and fake news and also on October 11th with one that's focused on makerspaces. These are great ways to build your professional connections, share your knowledge with others, and continue your lifelong learning. Our open classes program enables professionals to take just a single class or Q and R program without being matriculated students. These are all excellent ways that you can continue your professional development and connection with our school after you graduate. We also offer free online webinars featuring experts in the field on a variety of relevant topics including career guidance. We are very fortunate to have exceptional award-winning faculty and students who are influencing the future of the information profession. Just to mention a couple of highlights, this year two of our alumni were selected for the American Library Association's coveted I Love My Librarian Award and three of our alumni were selected as library journals, movers, and shakers. I would like to now acknowledge our faculty who are joining us today from all around the world and our staff who've worked hard to ensure that everything runs smoothly in the school. We all work to support you in your education and as you enter the professional world. As San Jose State University graduates, you bear the responsibility today and tomorrow for demonstrating the impact that librarians and information professionals have on the well-being of their communities, whether in college and university environments, governmental environments, school environments, public library environments, or corporate environments. Congratulations to all of you. You've done it. You should be proud of your accomplishments. We certainly are. We are supported in our work by the larger university. The iSchool is part of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts and I am now very pleased to introduce you to our Dean, Dr. Mary Scutton. As Dean of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts, I am so proud of the School of Information and every one of you.  As the Dean, I share in the pride that you have 21st century job-ready graduates such as yourself need skills and competencies within their individual fields. But the School also provides with you ways to be able to communicate, collaborate, work effectively on cross-disciplinary teams, be adept users of information technology, data analytics and social media, understand the culture and social determinants of health and wellness, and be mindful of and able to advocate for social justice and human rights of all human beings in order to meet the demands of a never-changing societal landscape. You chose an innovative program. It serves as a model for the university and for educational institutions around the world. Your school has won awards, your faculty have won awards, you've coached international universities on the development of online programs and attracted students from all over the world. You're in really great company by being a part of the School of Information. You chose challenging coursework that has prepared you for a wide variety of information professions. You've been well prepared to thrive in positions that will be in place in the future. Keep learning and adapting both on the job and through postgraduate programs and continue to foster the learning of others as you move forward in your careers. You can support the future of the profession by hosting interns, mentoring tomorrow's students, and sharing your inspiration and experiences with your colleagues. Your education won't end with a degree and the value of your learning will continue to grow as you pay it forward. You chose a vital 21st century profession and it's my honor to recognize your dedication to such critical work. We are so proud of you. Do not forget about us. Be proud of your school and your college. Tell everyone that you are a graduate of a college that promotes social justice, fosters global awareness, embraces innovation, and views health as an interconnected whole of physical, social, emotional, occupational, multicultural, environmental, spiritual, and intellectual facets. I encourage you to keep connected to the college and in particular to your school. Be an involved alum. Visit campus both physically and virtually. Keep in touch with your professors and let us know how you're doing. Be a proud San Jose State alum. Congratulations to each one of you. We're so very proud of you and your accomplishments. Thank you very much, Dean Scutton. We appreciate those words that you were able to join us today. Each year, the faculty invites a student who best exhibits the most exceptional and professional promise for leadership to discuss the convocation. This student receives the Ken Haycock award for exceptional professional practice and is asked to serve as a graduate speaker. This year's speaker is Esra Noir. Esra is the embodiment of one of our MLIS program's core competencies, which is to identify ways in which information professionals can contribute to the cultural, economic, educational, and social well-being of our global communities. Esra has studied, lived, and worked in many places around the world, including Qatar, Washington, D.C., Egypt, and now Southern California. She's very interested and active in the topics of interfaith dialogue, empowering Muslim women, and embracing diversity. She is passionate about using her diverse background as an Arabic, Egyptian, American Muslim woman to make the world a better place. In fact, she believes that we all have the power to change the world one person at a time. She frequently writes and speaks on these themes and topics, notably as a regular contributor to the Huffington Post and the Orange County Register, as well as internationally at a recent TED conference at the Technical University of Munich in Germany, where she spoke about how she feels, how to feel welcomed and empowered in a diverse world. I first met Esra when she was awarded the college CASAs at San Jose State University's Committee to Enhance Equity and Diversity Graduate Student Award in 2016 in recognition of her achievements in these areas, and she flew up to San Jose to receive the award in person. This was one of many awards that Esra has received since she began her MLIS degree here at the School of Information that recognized her achievements and the difference that she's making in her field and in the broader community. Within our own information field, last year Esra received an IFLA Fellowship Award to attend the IFLA conference in Columbus, Ohio, and she received an ALA Fellowship to attend and present at the ALA Sharjah Conference in the United Arab Emirates. Esra clearly loves to learn and study. With her newly minted MLIS degree from San Jose State University iSchool, Esra will now have three master's degrees. She'll have her master's in business administration from the American Management and Business Administration Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as a master's of arts and organizational leadership at Brandman University. This love of learning will serve her well in our field as we all need to engage in continuous learning in a field that changes as rapidly as ours does. In her current job, Esra is serving as the Development Coordinator at the Leatherby Libraries at Chapman University in California and as the Chair of the Arts, Exhibits and Events Committee at the Library. She has career aspirations of working as an academic librarian and would like to be more involved in libraries in the Middle East. As Esra reflected on information professionals and the role they play, she said, I feel like every single person who works in the library has something to offer. I feel like these diverse perspectives and backgrounds bring something to the job. When people share these things as librarians, we're just being part of that conversation and change. And with the push of diversity on campus, on libraries and corporations, people are looking at diverse backgrounds and being globally minded. Libraries can be at the forefront of all of these things. As you, Esra, and all the rest of our iSchool graduates launch the next phase of your careers, I look forward to learning about all the ways that you will be at the forefront and will be making a difference in your communities around the world. It is now my pleasure to present Esra Noir. Greetings from sunny Southern California, everyone, as we gather here today from all over the world to celebrate our wonderful achievements. Thank you so much, Dr. Hirsch, for that kind and very generous introduction. I'm very, very honored. It has been such a pleasure to get to know you on a personal level over the past two years. Your genuine care and ability to connect with students and alumni of the iSchool wherever you go is just phenomenal. I look forward to furthering this relationship even more. You have done so much to the iSchool and having a completely virtual convocation ceremony today is just one of your so many amazing accomplishments. What we thought is unreal a few years ago seems to be just the norm today. That is why the advanced skills we all learned here from the high technology program at the iSchool, studying library and information sciences has just provided all of us with the necessary skills to be librarians and information professionals in the 21st century world. I also wanted to thank Dr. Mary Scotton, Dean of the San Jose State University College of Applied Sciences and Arts who took the time to visit me last year at Chapman University where I work during one of her Southern California tours. Thank you so much for taking the time Dean Scotton. These small acts of kindness helped me make it through my journey at the iSchool. Before I get started with my remarks I wanted to take a moment and thank my husband, my kids, my family all the way in Egypt, my friends, my colleagues at the Leatherby Libraries and Chapman University as well as all of you my professors and fellow students at the San Jose State University iSchool. I could not have done this without your support and encouragement. I also wanted to thank the Islamic Scholarship Fund, Chapman University, and Brayman University for supporting part of my education here at San Jose State through scholarships and tuition remission benefits. It was definitely a huge support. I also wanted to specifically thank Dr. Sue Allman, Dr. Elizabeth Estes, and Dr. Melanie Seller. You all have been so instrumental in my studies here at San Jose State and provided me with a role model to look up to and plenty of recommendation letters to which I'm very grateful. What an honor to be here today. Who would have thought that a time for Muslim Americans are continuously being portrayed as unrelatable community disconnected from the American values and discourse? San Jose State University is proving just the opposite. Not only was I chosen to be the Sears Ken Haycock Award recipient but I also get a chance to share a few words with all of you as the Sears student convocation speaker. A testimonial that Muslim Americans are part of the American fabric. For that opportunity, I am very honored and grateful. Now if you may allow me, I'd like to take a moment and share with you my own experience and tell you what brought me to the iSchool and the amazing librarianship world. Growing up in the Middle East, libraries were not necessary part of my ongoing life as a kid. Neither was the librarianship profession much known to the general public. That totally changed when the Library of Alexandria or what we all like to call the Bibliotheca Alexandria opened in Alexandria Egypt back in 2002. It is slogan back then was to reviving a legacy of the past for a brighter and common future. In just a few years, it became the most important place in town and one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. I had just received my MBA in 2005 when they offered me to join their team. The profession was just being shaped across the country and I started to see how librarians and libraries can positively impact the community. The Library of Alexandria became the cultural center of the town and made me realize the huge role that libraries can play. I realized how libraries can play a major role in social justice, values that the St. Josie State University holds tight. Fast forward a few years and life has taken me and my own little family to the United States and as it happened, I got a full-time job at the letter B libraries at Chapman University where I started as a volunteer in the basement of the libraries counting an inventory's book until I finally made it to the fourth floor in library administration as head of development and marketing. Through this journey, I fell in love with libraries and saw firsthand how they can change lives and bring people together. As the chair of the arts exhibits and events committee, I helped put together hundreds of programs, exhibits and events where we discuss diverse range of topics. From Muslim woman, Syria seeks in the great war to LGBT issues, the Egyptian revolution, the Arab Spring, the art of calligraphy, a variety of interfaith topics and many more. These cultural programs bring people together. They break barriers and they create a sense of community. As I celebrate with all of you today, earning a master's degree in library and information sciences, I remain committed to diversity in libraries, bringing people together and helping through my humble experiences, libraries in Egypt and the Middle East to reach their full potential. And I hope we all together as the San Jose State University High School class of 2017 remain committed to these goals as well. As I finish putting my final touches to my article, librarianship where have you been, I want to encourage all of us here today to remain committed to teaching the general public about the role of libraries and librarians all over the world. Because if it was not for that teaching moment I had back in 2004, I would have never chosen this amazing profession. Congratulations to all of you class of 2017. You have all worked extremely hard to get to this point. May you all be committed to libraries and realize your power in a world of alternative facts combating fake news. Thank you so much. Thank you very much Estra for those words. They're really it's really wonderful to have your perspective represented and I know that our graduates will be inspired by your example and by what you had to share with us today. It is now my honor to introduce our school's 2017 Convocation Speaker Dr. Deborah Wallace who is the Executive Director of Knowledge and Library Services at the Harvard Business School. Dr. Wallace holds a Bachelor of Science from Morehead State University, a Master's of Education from the University of Manitoba and a PhD from the University of Toronto. Dr. Wallace has worked in many different information environments throughout her career. She beyond her career as a teacher librarian then moved to the information industry specializing in school library automation. After completing her doctorate, she worked at the Faculty of Information Studies at the University of Toronto as assistant to the dean focused on knowledge management initiatives and she established a consulting practice in organizational learning and knowledge strategies. After eight years in private practice, she rejoined the academic community coming full circle to our teacher librarian roots with an entrepreneurial focus and a business rigor at the Harvard Business School. In our current role as Executive Director of Knowledge and Library Services at the Harvard Business School, she oversees a preeminent collection of contemporary and historical business information and a range of custom services for Harvard Business School's diverse community. She is at the forefront of academic library innovation experimenting with linked data, semantic data and modeling and digital product development to disseminate faculty research and thus creating an information ecosystem in which libraries are an integral partners with 21st century scholars. Over the years, our school has been like you to work with Dr. Wallace in different ways. She has served as a part-time instructor in the past teaching instructional strategies for information professionals. She currently serves on our school's international advisory board and I am grateful for her sage guidance and positive support. Dr. Wallace is an innovative thinker and a creative leader who is always willing to try new things and adopt a changing environment. All important characteristics of successful information professionals today. I am very excited that Dr. Wallace is here to share her thoughts with our graduates who are just launching their new careers in the Vibran Information Science field. It is my great honor to introduce Dr. Debra Wallace. Thank you so much, Professor Hirsch. That was a lovely introduction. I am very honored to be participating in the acknowledgement of such a significant achievement by the graduating class of 2017 today. I have attended many convocation ceremonies in my life, but I have to tell you this is the first time I have balanced this mortar board on top of headsets. So once again, SJSU's iSchool pays the way for innovation across higher education, brava. Dean Scutton, Professor Hirsch, iSchool faculty, honored guests and most importantly, the members of the class of 2017, it is a sincere pleasure to share with you a few comments about the profession in which I hope you will enjoy a very long inspiring and gratifying career. I spend time looking at your profiles on the convocation site and I see, not surprisingly, your interests are varied and the paths you have chosen to pursue are just as diverse. In my remarks today, I hope each of you will find a common thread that resonates across your multifaceted experiences and your multi-dimensional aspirations. If I were a betting woman, I'd lay money on a common theme reading out across iSchool convocation addresses this spring. Unfortunately, it's not a new question. It's one that has been asked ever since I entered the profession and probably long before that, albeit for slightly different reasons from today. When I became a junior high teacher librarian, it was clearly the dark ages. We had no idea what was to come with the dawn of the internet and the ensuing digital age, but the question was still asked, why do we need libraries? Why do we need librarians? Nearly 40 years later, many school libraries are on life support, if not already laid to rest, while others are alive and well, thriving as proactive educational partners. Clearly, there have been multiple answers to that all-important question. Today, my context at the Harvard Business School is quite a bit different from my days in a school library in Winnipeg, Manitoba. But even though I'm now speaking from an academic research library, where one might think libraries are just a given, the question persists. With Google, why do I need a library anymore? It's a question I'm asked by my alumni, increasingly by our students, and sadly, even by some of our faculty. My answer is always very straightforward. I always deliver it with a lot of passion and conviction. But I wish it were as concise as my parents' favorite response to my endless questions of why. They're often exasperated because I said so, was the stock answer. Do you remember that one? Have you ever heard that? Maddening, right. But now up the ante, a few notches from a 13-year-old asking why her allowance wasn't increasing at the rate of inflation to alumni donors wanting to know why they should contribute to an archaic institution called library when they believe the world of information is just at their fingertips? Because I said so. Well, that's not very satisfying. It's definitely not convincing. And in fact, it probably creates more skepticism, a no-win situation. And as you might rightfully point out, a career limiting move on my part. So what is the answer then? Why do we need libraries? In my opinion, libraries and the wide range of professionals who work in them are more important than ever before. With the increasing volume and velocity at which information is created, even an old age adage like drinking from a fire hose doesn't come close to describing the seemingly limitless world of information, the equally daunting number of ways to serve it up, and people's insatiable appetites to consume it. And given that the Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year for 2016 was post-truth, the need for easy access to relevant authoritative and timely information, as well as the ability to sort through an equally growing volume of misinformation has never been more important, and informed citizenry demands libraries and librarians. But that's my opinion. And while it's probably a credible statement, it's really not a very good answer. Frankly, it has no real meaning to most users. It's not personal. It doesn't tie to the specific needs of a given individual. Speaking from experience, I can assure you that this answer, my insightful fact-based 50,000-foot level opinion produces some pretty impressive eye-rolling and polite replies. Really, how interesting. I'm afraid I'm late for my favorite dental appointment. It can clear a room in no time. I think the answer actually lies in another short response. My parents' second favorite choice, when replying to my constant questioning about why. It depends. It depends as a perfect answer because there is no one answer. There is no one right answer to our all-consuming question of why libraries, why librarians, why information professionals. The range of possible answers is only limited by the number of people involved in assessing the value created by their experience with the library, with the librarian, multiplied by factors influencing that situation, that person, that particular point in time. In other words, value is very personal, if not a temporal state. The bottom line, which you may all agree is a firm grasp on the obvious, is the value is relative. It's subjective. And like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder. In an industry that is evolving at the pace of ours and with disruption happening at so many levels, information professionals, especially those working in libraries, must constantly ask the question, what's my value proposition? What value do I create for my users, my customers, my organizations? In asking these questions, I think you'll find the answer. But let me tell you a story to illustrate my point. During my first budget meeting with my Dean, Nathenoria, I outlined a strategy for building the Next Generation Academic Research Library. Baker 3.0 would scour through networked information with federated search across multiple repositories on campus. It would deliver unique insights by our fabulous team of expert business researchers working with our unparalleled collections and serve up insightful findings via any channel our community wanted to use. We would disseminate our faculty's research globally, give our student population a competitive advantage in their market, in their job market search, become an invaluable resource to our alumni, and make the Dean proud of this iconic institution that is both the physical and intellectual heart of the HBS campus. To help him see this vision, we produced a three-minute takeoff on Mission Impossible, which we renamed Mission Possible. We were complete with a studio search light introduction, film industry rating, and Mission Impossible theme song. Our executive Dean contacted us by smartphone with the latest mission should we decide to accept it. The result of our rather unusual presentation was the Dean not only approved our budget, he also funded a new staff position to explore ways that we could leverage the disruption all around us, innovate in areas that would produce the most value for the HBS community, and generate revenue to fund our own innovation. It was clear that Baker 3.0 required investment and he wanted us to have some skin in that game. Flash forward now four years. We're nearly two-thirds through our second series of funding. We've created a whole new group called Baker for Business or B4B that offers archival and research services to our alumni, licences, library content, and provides information products through Harvard Business Publishing. We're heading in the right direction, but it's taking longer than projected to reach our targets. We need more time to reach our goals. So to ensure that we stay focused and not lose momentum, in this year's budget discussion I asked the Dean for an early decision to extend the B4B funding now rather than wait another year. My presentation was less dramatic and more focused on results, not futures. The range of alumni research needs met, the global influence of our product distribution, the cost avoidance achieved in other HBS business units, and the revenue line heading in the right direction. A total no brainer in my estimation. Limited risk, minimum investment, maximum return. It doesn't take an MBA to realize that the B4B service should be extended. The prototypes should go into full production and the staff should continue their work full steam ahead. Although a no brainer in my mind, the Dean decided that he wanted to wait until next year's Q1 results were in and revisit the project's extension then. He was delighted with our progress, but with competing priorities he wanted to take a more conservative stance. His answer to my question was to wait, to revisit it in September. I can't tell you how disappointed I was, but I can tell you his decisions smartened me up. I realized I'd made a big mistake. First and foremost, there's no such thing as a no brainer. Every question needs a thorough answer, a clear description of the value created. And while the Dean is a fabulous supporter of Baker Library's work, I misjudged the need for stating our case in terms of the value we created for him. I underutilized our incredibly satisfied customers and HBS partners as well. Sure, I had glowing testimonials. I even had our net promoter score up excellent emblazoned across our presentation materials, but I missed the opportunity to say why that satisfaction mattered to him. How this investment helped him achieve his objectives. I didn't make the value personal enough to get the answer I wanted. I stayed at the 50,000 foot level. Heaven knows there's probably a much longer list of mistakes I made, but the good news is it caused us to rethink our strategy to more clearly state the case for the value we created based on the Dean's objectives, what the results meant to him. Back to our question, why do we need libraries? The answer truly is it depends. Somewhere my parents are smiling, perhaps they're rolling their eyes to what they thought was a no brainer. It took her a while, but perhaps she finally got it. As information professionals, our jobs are hugely impactful. We create an enormous amount of value every day for countless people and organizations. We might create values through telling a story to a child or providing information on which a life-saving decision depends, but we can't answer the question of our value from 50,000 feet. It needs to be personal and situational. Offering a standard answer, even if it's a valid statement, will surely fall on deaf ears. You must build your answer, your value stack, one brick at a time. What's the conclusion to my story?  Well, like any good miniseries, I'll leave you with a cliffhanger. Check back in the fall and I'll let you know about our success. The world is your oyster. Your degree will open many doors. Your new knowledge and skills will arm you with the capacity to tackle opportunities and challenges old and new.  And your passion for creating value for answering the question, why do we need libraries, will be one of the most significant contributions not only to your user community and colleagues, but also to the next generation of information professionals who follow you. Stakeholders of all kinds, users, customers, administrators, and even your colleagues will continue to ask you to add value, to be relevant, to meet their needs. Whether they ask you the question directly or just let it simmer internally, every opportunity you can to create value to make libraries relevant in this digital age moves the needle one more notch for all of us. Today is your moment in the sun. Take time to bask in your incredible accomplishment. Congratulate one another and thank all those who supported you and what may at times seemed like an endless quest.  No matter the path you've chosen as an information professional, you have an incredibly exciting career ahead of you. This is not a profession for the faint of heart, but I assure you if you are open to it, you will find it an incredibly satisfying and rewarding choice. Once again, my sincerest congratulations. I warmly wish you the best in this amazing world of information. I think it's appropriate to end with Max's words as he was crowned king of the wild things. Do you know it? Any sendex hands out there? Let the wild rumpus start. Thank you. Thank you so much, Deb. That was fantastic. We really appreciated your important advice, and I think that will serve all of our information professionals who are launching their career as well to heed some of those good lessons that you shared with us. Thank you very much. We really appreciate it. I opened today's ceremony by reminding us that the word convocation means a calling together. Another word for today's ceremony is commencement, which means beginning. Today represents your new beginning as a graduate of our school's programs and the beginning of what we hope will be a very fulfilling and meaningful career in the field of library and information science. To help you on your way as a graduation gift from the iSchool, I'm very pleased to announce that we are giving each graduate this year a complimentary one-year membership extension to the San Jose State University Career Center. This membership includes access to resources such as resume workshops, interview workshops, Sparta jobs online, job search database, and more. It is our hope that this gift coupled with the new skills and knowledge that you gained during your time as an iSchool student will position you well to launch your successful career. Please let our school know when you land that job after graduation and continue to stay in touch with us in the future as you progress through your career. I look forward to hearing of your accomplishments and contributions in the future. I hope you will share your accomplishments with us on the Alumni Career Spotlight page that you will participate in iSchool Connect and that you will come to our school's receptions at professional association conferences like the American Library Association annual conference on June 24th in Chicago. We'll be having a reception there and we'll have other events throughout the year. So as we conclude this convocation I'd like to call your attention to the link on the screen. Your fellow iSchool students have put together a special video highlighting the many faces and personalities of the class of 2017. The video is about 16 minutes long and it will load in your browser and that will be the conclusion of this convocation.


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Starting right now, you'll have 10 minutes. You're on your way, these guys. We're going to stand and go. Probably what I'm going to do is I'm going to get on the car. Let's go, buddy. I'll wait. I'll wait until I pull. I'll wait. Let's go. Come on. There you go. You got this. That's how you do it. Come on, hop down. All right. I got it. OK. So, a career opportunity for, like, getting into a sniper section is just being able to work in small teams, number one. Like, a lot of these guys, when they come into the army, they think they're going to do a lot more, like, high-speed stuff than they really end up doing. We can kind of offer that as far as doing what they were kind of expecting to end up doing. Other than that, going to sniper school itself, you know, it's on the infantrymen and the scout career tracker as far as, like, schools that they need or schools that are sought after. It's an extremely rare school in the army. There's probably only 100 to 150 graduates of sniper school per year, so it's a very small, like, small ratio of people that are, like, in. It's a very tight-knit community. Well, one of the harder parts of becoming a sniper is passing the selection, number one, just having the criteria to get into the section. After getting into the section, the year's worth of training, you know, can be strenuous. And then after that, the school itself, you know, the school itself is not an easy school. It's not as physically demanding as some other schools, but it is still an extremely high-fail rate school.  So, you know, it's not, like I said, again, it's not as physically demanding as some schools you would imagine, but it is still extremely, you have to prove, like, prove every week, pretty much. There's a test every week that you're going to have to pass. It's difficult to pass. You have to prove that you have tangible skills every week as far as different events, but it is an extremely difficult school to pass to actually become sniper qualified. In 234, I've been a sniper for closing in on three years. I've been in sniper section for about two, and I've been a qualified sniper for about a year. So last year I went and passed sniper school. The reason we put on sniper selection this year, we generally do it about every year and a half, and it's really because we get low on numbers, either people, PCS or ETS, and the only way that we add numbers to the section is through a tryout process. Just that way we can ensure, like, standards are kept high, and that's kind of what separates us from the normal infantry or normal scout platoon is the fact that we can keep higher standards through a selection process. Some of the bigger deciding points, as far as who is actually going to get selected, is probably the rut march, just because it's mentally daunting. They don't know when they're going to stop walking because there's so many false endpoints. So it seems who really wants to be there because they're walking so many miles. The second biggest one is probably the personality interviews and the peer evaluations. It's like, we can push these guys really hard, and we did push them really hard. Being selected feels great. It's been one of my dreams since before I joined the Army, I wanted to be a sniper. I can't wait for the training to come. I already know it's going to be hard, but I don't care. I'm motivated. And self-motivation is the best motivation that you can have. I work hard each and every day to make sure that I'm going to get what I want to get out of life.