Welcome to the 2018-19 Academic Year! I wish you much happiness and success in your work of helping our students succeed and graduate with a Middle Georgia State University degree!
Each summer the academic year seems to start earlier and earlier. I recall the time when early September was the start of the new year, and certainly Mother Nature will keep giving us summer heat for a few more weeks.
But “Back to School” is the call around many parts of the country and today we welcome over 2,400 new undergraduate and graduate students who are starting their programs of study with us. This is an increase of nearly 300 new registered undergraduate and graduate students from last year, so it is a bumper year for MGA. Additionally, we are welcoming back over 5,300 returning students who will continue their programs of study. Thank you all for providing our students with an amazing higher education, that will elevate their lives and opportunities. And thank you too for your many efforts to enroll such a large population of students this fall.
Last week with Chancellor Wrigley we unveiled our plan of “Elevating Middle Georgia”. Patience and effort – or grit and resilience, if you prefer – are often the hallmarks of progress and success, and we daily model that to our students. The results are extraordinary, joyful and life-changing and we see that at Commencement, yet the work of getting to that point requires effort over several years.
Today is the first step on that journey for many of our students, reminding me of that Chinese proverb that “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. I hope this day’s step for our students is a happy and joyful one too, and I congratulate you on being there with them as they take this first step or continue back on the pathway of learning.
I wish you hopes and blessings in your work as we welcome our students and help them to elevate middle Georgia.