Dr. Cary Wasden, professor of finance and economics in the Business Management department, was the selected speaker for this year’s Convocation held in the Cannon Activities Center on Thursday, September 22. His message was titled “Reaping Where We Have Not Strawed,” drawing on the fact that the individuals of this generation have entered a world that has been prepared by those of previous generations. “While I hope my comments have broad application, I am particularly anxious that what I say will benefit the generation who are building their lives and preparing to enter careers,” stated Wasden. “Your world is changing rapidly, more rapidly than any generation before you.”
Having grown up on a farm, Wasden developed an ethic for hard work, and later had the opportunity to work in New York City as an analyst for JP Morgan. He emphasized the importance of hard work and not becoming complacent by choosing comfort instead of experiences that would help build character. His conveyed theme was deciding to plant, laying aside the choice of comfort. “I am convinced that the call of discipleship is a call toward opportunity and away from comfort,” he continued. “Our greatest opportunities often required the greatest challenge and adversity, but the rewards are remarkable.”
Wasden related various stories to the structure by which our economy is put together, emphasizing that the base of this economic structure is due to decisions, and repercussions of those decisions. He described how society began to lose a sense of accountability throughout the industrialization period, due to specialization that inevitably led to alienation. One story in particular that Wasden used to describe the absence of accountability by alienation was the investigation of the aftermath of the Holocaust. “Most people directly involved in the Holocaust felt that their contribution to the event was so small as to be meaningless or at least inconsequential. Therein was the mastery of the treachery. The process of destruction was broken down into such small pieces that each person’s job seemed irrelevant to the whole. Clearly someone else was responsible.”
Wasden commented on three major economic changes that have occurred within the last 200 years, namely the rise of the west, the rise of the United States, and now the rise of the rest of the world. He made clear that these changes weren’t a precursor to the downfall of America, but that there is no denying the rising growth of the rest of the world today.
Wasden pointed out a distinct division between the workforce of today’s world, classifying them as ‘creators and servers.’ He cited BYU–Hawaii’s divine nature in providing its students with the skills needed to become creators. With the constant instability of change as well as the inherited world this generation has been dealt, he emphasized the importance of taking advantage of the tools given by BYU-Hawaii. In expressing the challenging task at hand, Wasden said, “Our happiness lies in our ability to resist the temptation always in front of us, to feather our nests instead of lay down new seeds. To achieve the prophetic destiny of this university, we must re-set our expectations to opportunity. This earth is not our home. Our time here is short. Building mansions serves no man and does not serve the cause of Christ.”
Read or Watch the complete Convocation address.