In giving the address at Stroh Center arena, Whetsel-Ribeau spoke to approximately 3,500 people, including 800 graduates. She advised the graduates that by joining the 7 percent of the people in the world who have been given the gift of education, they have both tremendous opportunity and tremendous responsibility to make the world a better place. Whetsel-Ribeau urged the graduates to know their life purpose to pursue lives of significance. “When you have a life purpose, your conscious living begins…your “WHY” matters!” she exclaimed. Whetsel-Ribeau emphasized her point by quoting 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who once said. “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.”
