Instructor's 'Last Words' Provide First Steps Toward Realizing Success

A Pennsylvania College of Technology welding instructor passionately inspired his Tuesday audience to visualize success, work incrementally to reach even the loftiest goals, communicate effectively and embrace the setbacks that arise along the jagged path to accomplishment. "It's not a mistake unless you don't learn from it," said Ryan P. Good, whose "Rock Your Revolution" was the sixth in the college's annual David London My Last Words Lecture Series.



Invoking philosophers as diverse as Maya Angelou and Rocky Balboa, Good urged listeners – particularly students throughout the Klump Academic Center Auditorium – to disregard the discouraging voices that often rise from within.

"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.

"Nothing that you've been tasked to do is anything that you can't handle," he observed. "There's only one thing more detrimental than failure, and that's not doing anything at all."

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.

"I'm excited for the change that's going to occur when you enter the workforce," he told students. "My grandfather saw some amazing changes during his lifetime, but it's just a fraction of the change we're going to see."

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!"

Good was introduced by welding and fabrication engineering technology students Jarad J. Askren, of Warrensburg, Mo., and David J. Munn, of Athens, who nominated him for the honor. Malinda C. Love, assistant director of student activities for diversity and cultural life, welcomed the audience and presented Good with a plaque at the close of the program.

The presentation has been added to the college’s YouTube channel.