April Program Scholarship Night

Joseph Walsh, Vice President Operations, Speaking at the Groton Inn and Suites 

    April's EBMA dinner meeting, was Scholarship Night, held again this year at the Groton Inn & Suites on Thursday April 14, 2011.  Joe Walsh, EB’s VP Operations, delivered the evening’s address.  Mr. Walsh Thanked the EBMA for the opportunity to participate in the annual program.  We are here to recognize and reward ten individuals who have distinguished themselves through achievement, he said.  Some have also had successes in athletics while others through their commitment to community service.  Mr. Walsh referred to the opportunity to engage in higher education ‘a great gift’ and urged the students not to squander their approaching opportunity.    

    But before the VP spoke, the meeting was brought to order by EBMA President, Joe Rossi.  He welcomed members and guests noting that this meeting was traditionally one of his favorites.  I like giving money away, he quipped, especially when it’s not my own.  He went on to say that the credentials presented by this year’s crop of scholars were most impressive.  He thanked the scholarship committee and their chairman, Mark Zecco, for successfully completing the long and difficult selection process. He then previewed upcoming events including EB Night on May 4^th (John Casey principal speaker), the Lake Compounce Family Outing and the Annual Golf Tournament scheduled for June 24^th (POC Dawn Barrasso).    

     He then thanked hosts Tom Bogue and Dori Britt for coordinating seating assignments and Judy Bogue for her event pre-planning activities.  He welcomed Engineering and Design VP Pete Halvordson, and recognized the retirees attending this evening’s meeting.  Student Marisa Moody then led the Pledge and Ian Mace recited the prayer. 

     After dinner, Joe Rossi introduced Joe Walsh, noting that in his “previous life” Mr. Walsh had been a Rear Admiral in the US Navy.  At different stages he was the commander of submarine fleets in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, he noted, and he served as military liaison to two Presidents: George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton.   Members welcomed the VP with spirited applause.   

    Joe thanked the EBMA President for his kind introduction.  It’s wonderful to be here to recognize these students’ achievements, he said.  He echoed appreciation for Mark Zecco’s efforts as well as those of the other judges. He also congratulated the ten students and their families noting that all should be proud of the efforts for which they were being recognized this evening.  For many of you, he said, high school was a crossroads but the next four years will be a transformation.  It will determine who you are and where you are going, he said. His own daughters emerged from college as adults.  Unfortunately, they stopped calling me “dad”, he joked, and started calling me “Joe”.  Most of you will be out of your houses and on your own for the first time, he said, out making your own decisions.  Think before you do, he advised.

     Additional advice followed quickly.  Continue to communicate with your parents.  Take advantage of their experience and wisdom.  Talk to them before you make big decisions, he said.  At Annapolis, he recounted, he intended to become a Naval Architect; due to his love of ships.  His father suggested a broader course of study, Mechanical Engineering.  That, he said, proved to be sage advice. Cost shouldn’t be an overwhelming obstacle to those considering college, he said, since there are many sources of financial aid to explore.  Although from a working class household, he and six siblings had all found the means of achieving college degrees. And parents, he said, do your part: it may be the last substantial gift you will be giving to your child.                                                                           * 

        He urged students to take advantage of any opportunities that present themselves.  Do your best, he said, and don’t worry about the rest.  When he had graduated from the Naval Academy he’d hoped to serve on a new high-tech submarine  - one representing the zenith of technical achievement.  Instead, he was assigned to the ancient USS Skipjack, nicknamed Scrap Jack due its many mechanical failings.  That assignment, though initially disappointing, he said, turned out to be fortuitous because it led to an introduction to a fellow officer’s child’s nanny, who eventually became his future wife. “That changed my life,” he said and taught him a valuable lesson:  “Control what you can and let the rest take care of itself.”    

     Life is a series of discrete events, he noted, and the future is mostly uncertain.  But waiting on the sidelines should never be seen as a viable option.  Seize the day, he advised, and put off as little as possible.  His college experience had prepared him for a long string of memorable endeavors: circumnavigations of the globe, visits to more than 70 countries, his commands, and his service to two sitting Presidents. He advised them to jump at opportunity. Be participants, he urged, instead of bystanders.  He gave everyone some homework: read the speech President Teddy Roosevelt gave to students in Paris, many years ago.  He ended with a passage from what has come to be known as the “Man in the Arena” speech:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

     After, Joe Walsh’s prepared remarks, Mark Zecco and Joe Rossi returned to the stage to announce the results of the competition and to hand out the awards to the recipients.  The audience applauded each student as they rose to receive their awards

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