S.C. Speaker: Hope is 'fundamental' to American dream
University of South Carolina linebacker Eric Norwood of Acworth, Ga., hopes to play professional football. Crystal Glover of Orangeburg is hoping to work in a hospital. Ian Stuart came to Carolina from Dallas, Texas, hoped for a job and found one in nuclear energy.
Their hopes and dreams are but a few among the 2,500 other graduates from the university’s eight campuses who received their degrees during the December commencement ceremony Monday (Dec. 14) at the Colonial Life Arena.
Robert William “Bobby” Harrell, Speaker of the S.C. House of Representatives, told graduates, “Hope is fundamental to the American dream … As long as you continue to embrace hope, you’ll stay young. Don’t forget to dream.”
Harrell, who was awarded an honorary degree of public service during the ceremony, shared three bits of advice with the graduates as they headed out on a journey “more exciting, more fun and more rewarding” than the journey that they had just completed.
“The first is don’t forget your faith … every president of the United States would tell you that, even though he was the most powerful person on the planet, there were many times when he needed someone even more powerful to lean on for support,” he said.