John Rose encourages fall graduates to 'sing your own song'

Posted by Karen Lykins - Saturday, December 19 2009
klykins@tntech.edu
Office of Communications & Marketing



Write your own song in life and sing it out loud.

That was the message to Tennessee Tech University graduates Saturday from speaker John W. Rose, a Tennessee Tech University alumnus, farmer, entrepreneur and public servant.

Degrees were presented to 721 men and women Saturday during ceremonies at Hooper Eblen Center.

“Each of us needs to write our own song. We’re not talking literally about a song of course, but instead about a goal, a plan, a vision for our lives,” Rose said.

“First you must name your song and establish the melody and chorus. Our songs are our visions for our lives. A vision of what we want to be in life.

“Second, as you write the lyrics of your song, it’s alright, and sometimes necessary, to be flexible, even change the lyrics from time to time or add new verses to your song. Indeed, you should keep adding lyrics your whole life. Think of the lyrics as the steps you take in life to realize your vision.

“Finally, it does little good to write a song if we don’t sing it. We sing our song to share with others our life story, to help others, to inspire them, inspire and aid them in ultimately writing their own song.”

Rose graduated summa cum laude from TTU in 1988 with a degree in agribusiness economics and went on to earn a master’s degree in agricultural economics from Purdue University and a law degree from Vanderbilt. In 2000, TTU honored Rose with its Outstanding Young Alumnus Award. That same year, the College of Agriculture and Human Ecology named Rose its distinguished agriculture alumnus.

After practicing law for a few years, Rose decided to take a leap of faith with a start-up company. Co-founder of Transcender Corp., he watched the company experience explosive growth as a leading provider of information technology certification training. Under Rose’s leadership, the company earned the prestigious Music City Future 50 Award for five consecutive years. The award annually recognizes Middle Tennessee’s 50 fastest-growing private companies.

In 2001 Rose became one of TTU’s million-dollar donors with a gift that supported the College of Agriculture and Human Ecology and the university. More than half of the gift went toward the creation of the Jerry and Betty Williams Rose Scholarship Endowment in honor of his parents. In 2003 he earmarked $50,000 for the School of Nursing. His most recent donation earlier this year of $100,000 was earmarked for the Millard Oakley Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

The TBR selected Rose as the 2007 recipient of the TBR Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy. He currently serves as chairperson of the Tennessee FFA Foundation and the TTU Foundation.

Rose owns Lancaster Farm, one of Tennessee’s oldest working farms and the oldest farm in Smith County. Established in 1790, the Lancaster Farm is one of only 41 farms in Tennessee that predates the formation of the state of Tennessee

Saturday’s TTU graduates hail from 72 Tennessee counties, 26 states and 12 other countries. The undergraduate degrees awarded represent 40 fields of study and those who received graduate degrees represent 20 fields. The oldest graduate was born in 1918; the youngest in 1989, “evidence that an education at Tennessee Tech can be for everyone,” TTU President Bob Bell said.

Four graduates received doctorates: Tammy Hatfield Boles, Jamie Lynn Coburn, Michael L. Torrence, Charles W. Van Neste.

Following Saturday’s ceremonies, more than 66,000 graduates have received degrees from TTU.


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