Just Keep Digging: Thoughts for the Class of 2025

Graduates, today you sit here, ready to step forward into new journeys, new worlds, and perhaps even worlds that don’t yet exist. Moments like these often come wrapped with nostalgia for all that was and curiosity for all that may be. And between nostalgia and curiosity, there's something else—there's courage.

Today, I want to share a story about courage, resilience, and the power of small actions. It's about a place in the shadow of a volcano, where the earth itself seemed scorched beyond hope, and about a group of humble, unassuming creatures who changed everything by doing what they do best—they kept digging.

In May of 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in the Pacific Northwest, devastating everything around it—forests gone, wildlife wiped out, and soil rendered lifeless. Scientists believed recovery would take generations, if it was even possible at all. The question lingered: could life ever return?

Here's where our heroes enter the story—tiny, persistent pocket gophers. Yes, gophers. These creatures survived beneath winter snowpacks, hidden away from the eruption’s fury. Scientists brought them to that barren pumice plain, hoping they might somehow stir life back into dead earth. For just one single day, these little animals dug with everything they had, churning ash and rock, mixing the barren surface with nutrients buried far beneath.

One single day. It must have seemed futile. Impossible, even. Imagine the confusion, the fear—digging into unforgiving terrain, not knowing if their efforts would matter at all. But the gophers dug anyway, simply because that’s who they were. It was in their nature to persevere, to keep digging.

And when scientists returned years later, they found something remarkable. Where the gophers had dug, forty thousand species of life flourished—a small square meter of vibrant, diverse life. Decades later, that patch remained distinct and thriving, a testament to the power of small acts of courage and faith.

ASMSA Class of 2025, you are about to step into a world filled with challenges that sometimes will feel as insurmountable as mountains of volcanic ash. Problems might seem too vast, too complicated, too overwhelming. You'll face obstacles that feel as hard and barren as that pumice plain. But in those moments, I want you to remember the gophers. Remember their courage to do the work, even when they couldn't see the results at ground level. Remember their persistence, their resolve to just keep digging.

Maybe you'll stand up for a cause, or pursue a goal, or nurture a friendship, or follow a dream—and at times, it will feel like digging in stubborn, impossible ground. Progress might seem invisible, outcomes distant. You might wonder if your effort makes any difference at all. But remember this: even a single day of courageous effort can spark lasting change.

Every time you choose kindness in the face of cruelty, you are digging. Every time you commit to integrity over convenience, you dig deeper. Every time you embrace curiosity instead of complacency, you turn the earth toward renewal. Life and progress are built upon these daily acts—small but meaningful actions performed again and again and again, even when the  results aren’t immediately apparent.

We are taught to seek instant outcomes, clear paths, visible impacts. But true change often happens quietly, slowly, invisibly beneath the surface, just as it did beneath Mount St. Helens. The patience and determination it takes to continue—to keep digging—is perhaps the greatest skill you'll ever cultivate. This determination isn't always glamorous; often, it's gritty, exhausting, and thankless. But it's exactly how transformation occurs.

Graduates, each of you has the strength, creativity, and determination to turn barren places into thriving ecosystems—whether those barren places are environmental, social, professional, or deeply personal. Life will present challenges; mountains will erupt unexpectedly, blanketing your plans and dreams in metaphorical ash. But when it does, resist despair. Lean into your purpose, gather up your courage, and just keep digging.

Your time at ASMSA has equipped you well. You've developed skills, built relationships, and cultivated a deep intellectual curiosity. You've learned to question and explore. But perhaps most importantly, your presence here today means that you’ve learned to keep going when things feel uncertain or difficult. Take that resilience with you—it’s your strongest tool and your most enduring lesson.

In decades ahead, other bright and promising young Arkansas will find themselves in the spot where you first planted your dreams, and it is my sincere hope and expectation that they’ll see clearly the impact of your labor, your passion, your commitment. You might never see every seed you've planted bloom, but plant them anyway.

Keep digging, knowing that life—fragile, beautiful, resilient, remarkable—can grow from the smallest of actions.

Class of 2025, trust in the power of your choices, in the strength of your perseverance. Believe deeply that your daily acts of courage matter, even if you can’t yet see how.  And when in doubt, remember our friends, the gophers. Remember that nothing truly meaningful ever comes easy. Remember to be brave enough to trust in your efforts, even if results are invisible today.

Above all, remember to just keep digging.