itself fulfillment of attaining a college degree, it will be one of the greatest tools you will have to better yourself and reach success. adult with degrees are typically worth twice as much with those only in high school degrees, and over the course of your lifetime, you also have the potential to learn -- earned not just hundreds of thousands of dollars, but millions of dollars with this higher level of education. as you continue your studies, some of you who might go on to the masters or dr. it degrees, but also increases your potential in the -- doctorate degrees, it also increases your potential in the business world. in turning this degree, we are doing everything we can critique in earnings this degree we are doing everything we can to help

-- in earnings this degree, we are doing everything we can help in, and we've made increases the college-degree people in our state, and we are working on increasing economic -- academic standards to make sure you get the best education possible. no one can doubt the economic value of obtaining the degree you are achieving today, but it is more than a piece of paper you're going to recede. it is also about higher wages and better jobs, but graduating for most of you makes you part of the rich tradition in oklahoma of service and success that will follow you for the rest of your life. and i am very proud of what you are doing here today, and of the tools you have been given, and i am confident that as you move

forward from this day forward, oklahoma will be a much better place. now, i want to say that not only are you very fortunate to be graduating from a wonderful university, but you are also graduating and a great time for the state of oklahoma. i wanted to notice this. today, oklahoma ranks second in the nation for job creation i know you will all be out there looking for jobs, so i hope you heard what i said. we are second in the nation. that is a good marketplace. oklahoma city is number one in the area in job creation based on large, metropolitan cities. it is a great time for you to be graduating, and hopefully most of you will be able to stay in oklahoma. before i end, i want to give you some life lessons that i have learned in my career.

when is it is very important to you give back to your community, they you are part of the community, part of service to others, above self. it is rewarding in life that when you give to others and give -- you make your state a better place to live. there is no limit to what you can accomplish no matter who you are or what your background. i enter the came from very humble beginnings. -- i actually came from very humble beginnings. i've had great opportunities to do wonderful things and wonderful jobs, but my grandmother came to oklahoma in a covered wagon. i know that sounds kind of funny because we do not think about covered wagons these days, but she actually came to oklahoma five years after we became a state, in 1912, she was 7 years

old, and she came with her family. there were eight in her family. i asked why they came, and they came from tennessee. i said did you come here to buy a home, did you -- did your dad take another job? my grandmother kind of laughed and said we came to oklahoma to find a better opportunity, to be able to support our family, and they actually did not buy a house. they did not rent a home. they did not have a job. the action came to oklahoma to pick cotton and they were going from farm to farm, living in the covered wagon. she told me many times they would sleep on the grass under the stars, or mom would cook outside, and it is a remarkable thing to think about how people used to live just 100 years ago

in the state of oklahoma. i asked her if her her parents and she were able to go to high school and go on to college and get a better education, and she told me that with so many people in the family we only had two horses, and my family moved a lot because they were searching for work to find better opportunities, so she said when she could go to school she did, so she only completed the eighth grade in her education. i want you to know something about her. she was one sharp lady. she was a first-class lady. she was one that was always putting others about herself, and she always took care of herself. she died when she was 98 years old, lived on her own all of those many years and was a great cooks, by the way. she was a great role model for

me. in this day when we think about all that we have with text messaging, e-mail, facebook, twitter, cell phone, and travel, you can do business globally around the world -- i think about 100 years ago where my grandmother was to the opportunities that i have today, her granddaughter. to be the first woman governor of the state of oklahoma, it really does tell you how great oklahoma is. so, i hope that when you think about your future that you know that no matter what your circumstances are, no matter where you come from, you can be anything you want to be if you work hard, if you never give up, if you take risks, if you believe in service to others.

i will also tell you that life will not always go exactly the way you hope it will. sometimes there will be setbacks and disappointments. setbacks are actually opportunities for comdex. when you have a setback, come back -- come backs. when you have a setback, do not let it hold you back. even in my job as governor, i've learned something else that is important that helps me do my job better in our state. receiving your degree is not only a milestone in your career, but your degree also marks the end of a journey in your life and the beginning of another journey in your life, and now it is up to you as graduates to use the knowledge that you received from oklahoma city university, a greek university, to put that knowledge to work, to see what

other doors of opportunity might open up to you, and i know through this graduating class today, that oklahoma will be a greater state with even more hope and opportunity ahead. god bless you, and congratulations to all of our graduates. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> it is the possibility that we will fail to hear the example of that generation. a we will a la the momentum towards a democracy to stall. for get what the history of this

century reminds us. problems abroad if left unattended well off -- will all too often come home to america. >> watch commencement speeches from the last three decades online at the video library. >> on this memorial day weekend, president obama pays tribute to those who lost their lives defending the united states. she begins by thanking the u.s. military for her service and outlines the republican plan for economic growth. >>this weekend, folks across the country are opening up the pool, firing up the grill, and taking a well-earned moment to relax. but memorial day is more than a three-day weekend.