Division of Youth Services Graduation 6/25/24

Good afternoon to all of our Graduates and their families as we gather to celebrate their hard work and accomplishments as they finish out this stage of their young lives. My name is Juston Davidson and I have the pleasure to serve at our facility here as the head of our liasan council. More than that, many of you would have most likely had the same struggles and challenges I did when I was your age. Yet, through the years the Lord has blessed me with great friends and mentors who have encouraged me and built me up into the person I am today. And as I think about you young graduates, what you’ve been through and where you are going, today matters. I want to share with you today, 3 things that you should know about yourself and that today brings to light as well as 3 lessons handed to me that I want to give to you.

3 things that your graduation should teach you about you.

You can accomplish anything when you decide to work towards it.

How many of you started this program, this work, these classes and decided in the first 10 minutes that the mountain of work needed was too high of a climb. Yet, here you are, standing on the summit. You put in the work, you read the books, you turned in the assignments, you did it. No one else did it for you. You did that. You worked your tails off and for some of you, this stands as the single biggest accomplishment of your lives. Years of work and commitment have paid of and you should feel the weight of the pride that sits upon you today.

You are capable of more than you probably thought you were.

There is a test they give to children in foster care that I took in college that measures hardships you experienced in childhood and the chances of them affecting your future and any trauma that might follow you into your life. Out of 10, no one in my class had a score of 5 or more but I had 9/10. My teacher stopped class and came over and gave me a hug. “Are you okay? I thought I was.” The truth was I had seen and experience things that many of my classmates couldn’t think of. Yet I was there in class with them.

You have probably overcame many obstacles and trials that many people in our world will never have to climb. Yet, here you are. You’ve accomplished this and probably, at times, you beleived all the things you’ve been told when people said you weren’t strong enough, capable enough, smart enough, that you weren’t the right stuff. Brothers and sisters, you are capable of more than you think you are and let today be the first of many times you prove that to yourself.

We are all capable of change and growth.

I was talking with a young man the other day out here and he explained that “he had alot of stupid in him that shows up at random times.” I think we’ve all been there from time to time but the young man who I was looking at was not that guy anymore. He’d grown up. He’d bettered himself. He’d learned, he’d adapted, he’d gained stills and discipline. We are all capable of changing and growing up. Sadly, some come to this realization later in life that they’d like but it can be accomplished but it can be found and accomplished. And you, anll are proof of it for all of us. Proof to us, yes, but more so, proof to yourselves.

3 pieces of advice for your future.

Surround yourself with those that will push you towards success.

Many of my friends in high school were the closest people to me at that time in my life and sadly, many of them have fallen on hard times. Many struggle with addiction, many hit walls of failure and couldn’t bounce back, some have more run ins with law enforcement than they do with their own families. Yet, despite all the setbacks, all the history, us growing up in the same environments, going to the same school, and engaging in the same activities, I am not there. I don’t say this to brag in any way but to shine light on why I think this is. I was fortunate to have surrounded myself with men and women who would push me towards the best person I could be. For some school creates life long friends, for some the military, for some jobs, for many church. The point for you my young friends, is you need to surround yourself with coaches and friends who will challenge you to get the best out of you. Many coaches yell at us all, make us do push ups and run miles but when the game clock sounds off, we end up realizing that all the practices helped us get ready for success. So it will be in your futures as well. Surround yourself with those that refuse to let you fail and hold you up rather than holding you back.

Decide today the kind of person you want to be.

In 15 years of student ministry I have had the fortune to sit with many young men and women as we discussed what a real man or woman or integrity is and does. I was raised by a father who largely idolized John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. I was told as a kid that the ultimate sins a man could commit were to be useless or ask for help. As I’ve grown, I’ve found many holes in the vision laid out for me. You probably have as well. Will you be moral? Will your spouse and kids look up to you as an example? Will you be the kind of person who tells the truth even if it brings down hate upon you? Will you do the right thing only when someone is watching or will you be known as a man of integrity. In the Old movie Rob Roy, the main character is sitting down talking to his young sons, discussing Honor. They ask him simply, “What is honor?” He responds, “Honor is what no man can give you and no man can take away. Honor is a man’s gift to himself.” graduates, male or female, I challenge you, tonight as you think on today and the journey that’s taken you to where you are, look into yourself and ask, “What kind of person do I want to be known as” and take steps to make that person a reality. In my time in student ministry I’ve sat with many parents discussing their wishes for their kids’ futures and the opportunities they hope for them. My simple response has always been, “Whether they’re a CEO of a fortune 500 or a high school janitor, I don’t care. I care about who they are while they’re doing those things.”

Embrace relationships with people who will hurt your feelings for your own good.

Mike Davidson is my father and one of the primary differences between he and I and the lives that we’ve led is that one day I looked in the mirror and realized that i’d been wrong about some things and He’s never been wrong a day in his life. How can we be grow and learn and change and adapt to all the shifting sands of the world without becoming overwhelmed by the task? The answer is to surround yourself with a couple wise men or women who care more about you than they do your feelings. Many young men and women come to these facilities and succeed and find struggle when realeased. Why? Because the structure of having such great men and women who are cheering you on and saying important things to you, sometimes even when its the last thing we want to hear, help us. The man who helped me was named Tom. I always knew that if he invited me out to Mexican he was going to yell at me for something I did wrong. Yet, I kept coming back. Why? Why would anyone show up to get yelled at? Because I knew Tom would tell me the truth, he wanted what was best for me, and that he cared about me. Who invested in you while you were here? What did they say that broke though to you? How has it changed you. Might I suggest to all of you that you still need those relationships in your life outside of here. Find a church, an grand father or grandma, your dad, mom or another who impresses you. Let them know what you think about them and ask them if they’d consider talking sometimes. Most character people realize the ask and will respond in kind. I can tell you graduates, I would be in one bottle or another today rather than where I am where it not for the influence of such people. We all need them and their guidance cannot be overstated.

In closing, I stand here, surrounded by your friends, your family, your workers, and those who have watched you succeed. We are here to celebrate your accomplishments and pat you on the back. But I want to close by gathering around this truth that undergirds all other things going on today. Gentlemen, young ladies, we are all here to celebrate you but to encourage you and launch you into your future. You can accomplish anything you’ll work for, you are capable of more than even you know, and you’ve proven to yourself that you are capable of change and growth. What will you do? What will you become? What kind of man or woman will you become? Who will you choose to share in the journey with you. We all applaud you today, and congratulations on all that you’ve done. We cant wait to see who you choose to be. Thank you and god bless.