Troy University News

December 12, 2003

Contact:
Tom Davis :
(334) 670-3196; tomdavis@troy.edu

Office of University Relations
253 Adams Administration
Troy, AL 36082
(334) 670-3196
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Prepare for ‘second job,' Hugh O'Brian tells TSU graduates

   Troy State University graduates were told to prepare for their “second job,” as community leaders during commencement ceremonies Friday morning at Sartain Hall.
The speaker giving the advice—Hugh O'Brian--spent more than four decades as a television and movie actor, but found the time to create a nationwide leadership program for high school sophomores. O'Brian gained fame in the title role of the long-running TV series “Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp,” and in 1958 spent nine days with famed humanitarian Dr. Albert Schweitzer in Africa, which led to the founding of the Hugh O'Brian Youth Foundation (HOBY).
    O'Brian told TSU graduates from 23 U.S. states and 18 foreign nations to “first find something you enjoy doing” and then seek ways to give back to your community through a civic club, church or other volunteer agency.
    “For the first 10 years or so of your life after college, you are going to be focusing on building a career,” he said. “Then you are ready for your second job.”
   O'Brian pointed to his hero, Dr. Schweitzer, as an example.
    “He (Schweitzer) was a minister but he told his wife one day that they were going to Africa to be missionaries,” O'Brian said. “He then at age 33 went back to school and became a medical doctor so he could establish a clinic at his mission in Gabon.”
    O'Brian also urged the students to take their newly earned degree and begin a lifetime of learning. He also told them to develop a personal code of ethics to guide them in both their personal and professional lives.
    In his introduction of O'Brian, Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., praised the actor for his efforts on behalf of young people.
    “We at Troy State University have long admired HOBY,” Dr. Hawkins said. “Our mission is to train the next generation of leaders for this state and nation, so we share the same goals.”