you what i think, and i will wake up every single day just working as hard as i can to make your lives a little better." and you know what? i have kept that promise. i have kept that promise. [applause] i still believe in you. i still believe in the american people. i still believe in the american idea, and if you are willing to knock on some doors and make some phone calls and get out there and get working and decide to finish what we started in 2008, we will not just win an election, we will continue down a path for this country and remind the entire world just why it is that america is the greatest session on earth. god bless you, and god bless the

united states of america. [cheers and applause] >> tomorrow night, join us with president obama and bill clinton. one of refund raiders to -- if three fundraisers they are expected to attend together in new york. prop on bob ryan. -- barack on broadway. coming up, commencement address. followed by connecticut senator. vice president joe biden at west point academy later.

up next, the college commencement in michigan. republican governor in exciter addressed the class of 2012 and early may. he was chairman of gateway community -- computer corporation. his speech is 15 minutes. [applause] >> thank you for that great introduction. it is a double honor to be here today. receiving the honorary degree and having an opportunity to talk to you and share thoughts with fabular -- fabulous students were graduating today. it is truly extraordinary and you should be proud. i would make a couple comments on the honoraria degree, because it is a real honor. when i was growing up, many of

my friends went to college at was the place to go. i association here goes way back. it has continued my entire life. i am proud to say some of them are sitting on stage with me today. this man is making a difference. we have worked closely together helping to create more jobs in michigan. he has done a fabulous job. another person is a former board chair. he is an indispensable part of our team and is helping make a huge difference. i need to give a special shot out to the family to help support that effort. it is not easy. a young person in our office that is a grad. jeff could not make it today,

but now i can go to my son who graduated two years ago and say i am trying to catch up with you. with respect to the commencement address part, it is interesting when you hear about commencement addresses. there tends to be a category to say the speaker gets up and tells you what the world is going to bay or a speaker gets up and tells you what you should do in the world. we need to be more innovative in michigan. that is part of our reinvention. i want to give you a framework for success and one piece of advice. i have some qualms about the spring market will share with you. there are six questions, but it is sort of a test. i'm scared to bring an idea of a through with school. this is a test by call the common-sense test for better living. 6 overall.

i think the perfect time to do this is new year's day because a lot of us do new year's resolutions. before you do that, i would ask you to think about these six questions. i bet if you went through this list that you would change your resolution. the first pair, i called a normal pear because we think about these quite often. are you enjoying or satisfied with your work? what they that were to be at home, a for-profit company, not-for profit, or public service. we do not think about the important. do you enjoy what you're doing for a living? why do we think that is so important? if you enjoy what you're doing,

you're going to be much better at it in you will make a better difference. do you have a strong network of family and friends stocks that is a question we need to answer -- family and friends? that was a challengen my career. you need to spend more time with your family and friends. what had turned out is that i became better at work because i had a better perspective in life. i managed stress at work and having children helped. the interesting part of that is when i would go home from work, i could have the best or worst day, but when you walk in that door, just did not care.

that's really important. think about that. questions. the second is what i call the basic care. we tend to overlook these. at the basic level, are you well? are you taking care of your own well being and your health? most of us do not. i'm trying to get my act together. i have to lose 10 pounds and i'm still working on it. i suggest a simple 4 by 4 method -- diet, exercising, annual physical, do not smoke. the other four -- what is your weight, blood pressure, blood

sugar, and cholesterol? the second basic question of looking at what is going ahead in the future is, are you preparing for the future? to often we do not think about our future needs and that is typically applied to our young people. seldom do we think years out. we should have fun. start digging about those questions about when you want to buy that first house. -- start thinking about those questions. the world is changing. we need to prepare for retirement better than we have. we will find far too many people unprepared. that is something we should think about and prepare for even when we are young.

the last group is the higher level two questions. are you exploring opportunities? it is great but it does to your life. too often, we tend to get in a rush end to the same things over and over again. it is not a value judgment to say that is bad, but we may be missing opportunities in our life. one thing i wish every person here could do to give you a different perspective on what we need to do is that every person could spend one day abroad. think about how it could change your life to spend one day in china, one day in the middle east to see how those cultures operate and give us a better outlook. you can have upon in terms of travel. i am born and bred in michigan. but until i ran for governor, i have never really truly eggs florida michigan. now why can tell you where the

biggest ice-cream cone in the north is. i can tell you where to get a gourmet hot dog on the shoreline. i that many of you have not been there. there's a good reason people live in every place in our state, but seldom do we see that. we only travel through them. the other thing is to find fun activities even as you get older. i took up scuba diving because i wanted to try something new. it is scary when you first start doing it. you find yourself under 60 feet of one -- water wondering, why did i want to be here? i had seen a whole new world that i have only seen on television. the only way you really enjoys scuba diving is if you relax. even though you may be scared, the best way to do it is to totally relax and just float along.

it's the best experience. the final question is one that we often do ask but i want to emphasize it. do you feel you were making a positive influence in a mother's life? -- in another's life? that covers some of territory. here's an opportunity to make a difference in 10 million people live. the quantity is not what matters. it is asking the question if you are making a difference in someone's life. usually we are, family and friends, but are also doing that volunteer effort to spend one hour per week reading the kids in school are going to help people in terms of social services, just a way to reach out and touch people in a positive way. those are the six questions. the first two are the normal ones, the next two our basic ones, the last two higher level. if you go through that just once

per year, i think you will find you will be changing your new year's resolution to be on a much more happier past, a simple guide for life. one piece of advice i do want to share with you, and i have competing interests here. [train horn] i just learned this of the last few years -- we will give him a few more yards. this happens to a lot of my speeches in some actions. -- in some fashion. [laughter] no signs damages noises. one piece of advice, this is

what i did not put into words until the last few years but i found i have been living, i did not learn this until i was about 50. they gave me the black balloons and the works. this was a phrase president randall used. the piece of advice is to do this with relentless positive action. what is relentless positive action? an attitude that says if you go through life, do not blame anyone for anything. i have never seen the problem solved by blaming anyone. the second piece is not to worry about taking credit as a part of a program or project you are involved in.

something gets done that makes a difference in someone's life. that is what matters. good things will happen if you just do the right thing. the third element is to go solve problems. solve them in a way where it is not about fighting with anyone. find common ground. find a solution to make a difference and bring people together. try to be as inclusive as possible to bring people together to solve a problem. then it be relentless in applying that solution to take on the next problem. it is by having that attitude, that fire, that passion that you can change the world. i encourage you to take that initiative. i know you have that spirit. i have heard it already when i listen to the things you have already achieved. as you go forward, i hope these are some value. are some value.