Laura Bush Inspires Graduates

From Sarah Perry at the Dallas Morning News:
Service matters.
That's the message delivered by former first lady Laura Bush to nearly 2,000 SMU graduates Saturday.
More than 40 years after she earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education, Bush returned to Southern Methodist University to deliver the keynote commencement speech.
After the hundreds of candidates for degrees filed down the aisle in sapphire blue robes, smiling and waving to family members, SMU President R. Gerald Turner introduced Bush to the audience. "
I've been telling you, we prepare you for anything," Turner joked.
Decked out in her own sapphire blue robe with red trimmings, Bush reflected on her own graduation ceremonies.
Because she couldn't remember the keynote speaker at her master's degree ceremony at the University of Texas at Austin in 1977, she looked it up.
"You can imagine my surprise when I discovered it was George Bush," she said, referring to the father, not the son.
The audience erupted in laughter.
Bush spoke of her experiences, and lessons learned, at SMU.
"They will be influential for the rest of your life," she said.
But service, Bush said, is a key to success. Bush is a lifelong advocate for education. When former President George W. Bush began his term, Laura Bush, working with Congress, spearheaded the first National Book Festival and serves as an honorary ambassador for the United Nations Literacy Decade.
Bush commended SMU students for embracing four degree candidates who had transferred to SMU after escaping Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
"You won't waste your talent and education if you use them in service to others," she said.
Bush's presence encouraged one graduate, Andrew Shaddock of Dallas, to attend his ceremony. Shaddock, who earned a bachelor of science in financial economics, said he wasn't planning to attend until he learned Bush was speaking.
Shaddock met George W. Bush during a class at SMU and wanted to watch Laura Bush speak as well.
"Seeing her finished the Bush experience," he said.