Instructor's 'Last Words' Provide First Steps Toward Realizing Success
Published 10.22.2013
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![Presented with a plaque at the close of his lecture, Ryan P. Good is joined on stage by student nominators David J. Munn (left) and Jarad J. Askren.](http://www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2013/10/LastWords3-150x150.jpg)
!["Haters gonna hate," Good observed, telling his students to ignore criticism and focus on problem-solving, even at the cost of time and sanity. "Always err on the side of being part of the solution," he said.](http://www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2013/10/LastWords1-150x150.jpg)
"Don't be an obstacle to your own success. Don't tell yourself, 'I'm no good at math,' just commit to being better."
While joking that students have survived moving away from home, feeding themselves and doing their own laundry, Good said there's a serious lesson in those small victories.
![Good recommended that those in the crowd picture the path to achieving their objectives, then take the smaller steps necessary to get there. It's a strategy he used as late as that day, he said, to quell any nervousness about speaking in such an intimidating venue.](http://www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2013/10/LastWords5-150x150.jpg)
A Penn College alumnus, Good earned an associate degree in welding technology in 1998 and a bachelor's in welding and fabrication engineering technology in 2001. He drew upon that experience, as well as careers in manufacturing and education, to remark how quickly technology alters our world.
![Good was especially grateful for the turnout of welding students and faculty among the night's attendees, saying they drink a "big, tall glass of awesome" every morning.](http://www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2013/10/LastWords2-150x150.jpg)
The same goes for his three daughters, the oldest of whom (3 1/2) already knows how to operate a touch-screen smartphone.
"You know how I learned to type? On a typewriter. Anyone ever used a typewriter? I didn't see a computer until my senior year of high school!"
![The speaker and Penn College physics instructor Joseph E. LeBlanc compare notes on their respective journeys to Japan. During his talk, Good discussed what he's learned from traveling half a world away from his comfort zone: "We're more the same than we aren't." In addition to offering moral support for a faculty colleague, LeBlanc was among the instructors who encouraged students to attend.](http://www.pct.edu/files/news/images/2013/10/LastWords4-150x150.jpg)
The presentation has been added to the college’s YouTube channel.