PEORIA, Ill. – There’s a new class of graduates from Bradley University.
Bradley held commencement ceremonies for both its undergraduate and graduate students Saturday, before many of them headed off into the real world.
One of Bradley’s newest grads — Mitchell Thiel — got his diploma even though he’s been on active duty with the Navy, one of nine selected nationwide for the Naval Civil Engineering Corps.
“When you start your career, graduate school, the military, or your next phase of life, I encourage all of you to never take for granted those little moments — the moments that often go unnoticed until it’s too late,” said Thiel. “The little moments are so valuable, as they have been during our past four years.”
Moments that, Thiel says, may have seemed insignificant at the time, but will be important the rest of one’s life, especially as distraction comes in the form of big picture thinking.
Steve Miller is chairman of Sports Academy Foundation, and is the CEO of Agassi Graf Holdings — the companies bearing the names of tennis legends Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf.
Miller, also a former executive at Nike, received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater at the school’s commencement Saturday.
“You need to define you. You don’t need an outside source to define you. You don’t need a job to define you,” said Miller, a 1966 graduate, to the Class of 2023. “There are no great businesses. There are no great jobs.”
Miller says despite what the graduates may have been told, there are only great people — and, those people are what make jobs and businesses great.
