Yesterday, at the Faculty of Humanities convocation, I received a Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. In connection with the award, I was asked to give the address today to the 2012 Faculty of Education Class.

One of the graduates was Donna Lee Gosling. I had heard murmurs about “Ryan Gosling” as I gowned up, but it didn’t register. I remained clueless until a ripple – more like a wave – went through the hall as the graduands were hooded, and I realized that the guy standing and cheering his Mom was the cause. Congratulations to Donna Lee, and all who graduated today.

Here’s what I said (the video can be found here; with my address beginning at 24:40):

Chancellor Goodman, President Lightstone, distinguished guests, parents, and especially graduating class of 2012. It’s an honour to share this occasion with you, with your family and friends.

I have two children, Jacob, who is 13, and Kathleen, who is 11 and recently, they’ve taken an interest in my work, teaching and researching history and technology here at Brock. But sometimes it worries them. When I told them that I would be speaking to the 2012 graduating class of the Faculty of Education, they wanted the details. “How many people are going to be there?”, Jacob asked. “Several hundred”, I said. “And you’re going to be talking to all of them?” “Yes”. “On your own?” “What are you going to wear?” “Well”, he said, “You better not be boring.”

Just like every convocation address that offers unsolicited advice, mine contains a metaphor. Many years ago, when Jacob was little, we were driving through Ontario cottage country when we passed one of those deer crossing signs… yellow, diamond shaped, you know what they look like, the deer in mid-leap. Jacob figured that if there was a sign, there must be a deer. So when the next sign appeared, he persuaded me to pull over in front because he wanted to see one.

So I went along with it. And the two of us sat there, in the car, quietly, waiting…waiting…waiting… I’d like to say that a deer came along, but it didn’t. So after ten minutes, we both got sick of sitting there, and left.

Now, what’s the lesson we can draw from this? My son really wanted to see a deer. Judging by the sign, he was in the vicinity of deer; the conditions were right for him to see a deer. But guess what? No deer.

Graduating class of 2012, I know all of you want a successful career.

You are well-equipped – you’ve had the benefit of a first-rate education here at Brock, and a first-class degree in the Bachelor of Education. You’re in the vicinity of success, the conditions are right for you to succeed. But you can’t just sit there and wait.

If you want to find a deer, you have to go looking. These days, graduates, you have to go after your own success.

As you know far better than me, it’s a difficult time to become a teacher in Ontario. There are peaks and troughs in the hiring of teachers, and right now we’re in a trough — too many late-career teachers, too few students entering schools. If you’re interested in the details, you can read the report from the Ontario College of Teachers called “Transition to Teaching”. I’ve linked to it on my blog, kevinkee.ca.

The report points out that recently graduated teachers like you are highly committed to your profession: nine of ten of those polled were devoted to long-term teaching careers because they want to make a difference in students’ lives. But relatively few have secured long-term jobs. Last year, among first-year teachers, one in three was unemployed; only one in eight had secured a regular teaching job.

I don’t pretend to know what it feels like for you as you anticipate this challenge. But I can tell you what I experienced.

I was doing a Ph.D. in history because I loved the subject, and was passionate about teaching it to others. But history, as you well know, history often comes across as boring, especially in school. I thought using the latest technologies could bring history to life, so I learned whatever I could about computers and the Web.

But in the 1990s – when you were in elementary school – using computers to communicate history was definitely not on the radar. And universities were full, as schools are now, with many late-career people, and there were no jobs.

So there I was at the deer sign, and I realized that nothing was going to come to me. I had to go looking. I spoke with lots of people, in politics; in business; in technology. And I sent out a lot of letters and resumes, for anything history related.

One of these applications went to the National Film Board of Canada. I had seen a tiny ad on the History department door, looking for someone to lead the building of a massive history Web site. I knew that I wasn’t qualified to be the leader, so I wrote and told them about all the other ways I could help.

But nothing. My wife was eight months pregnant with our first child – with Jacob – and I felt hopelessly unemployable. One evening, she cried herself to sleep. That was perhaps my darkest moment. But the next day, when I walked into our apartment, she said “some French guy left a message for you about a job.”

The National Film Board had placed my letter in a pile, then moved it to another pile, and then a third pile, then taken a look and decided to interview me.

I didn’t speak much French, so for the next 14 days I took intensive lessons. I’d never built a Web site from scratch, so I figured out how to do that too. And I learned everything I could about the National Film Board. I could not have been more prepared.

On the day of my interview, my train was two hours late, my taxi driver got lost, and the hiring committee had already decided on someone else.

But I gave the best interview of my life, changed their minds, and got the job. And a few weeks later I was working with people with Oscars on their shelves.

It wasn’t necessarily easy. I worked primarily with francophones, so I spent my lunch breaks studying with a French tutor, so I could figure out what everyone was saying. At night, with a baby at home, I finished my Ph.D. I didn’t sleep much that year. But I felt exceptionally alive.

So graduating class of 2012, remember the deer sign. Remember that the future is in your hands. But the metaphor continues.

During your search for deer, you may find yourself following some unusual paths. You might move slowly through a narrow gorge, or quickly through an open field. When you finally find what you are looking for, you will feel a wonderful sense of accomplishment. Reflecting back, hopefully you will also come to realize that the search itself was as important and satisfying as its successful conclusion.

You may recall that I set out to be a History Professor who could use technology to bring history to life. When I went to the NFB, many of my friends and colleagues told me it was the end of my career in the university. I knew they might be right, but I also knew that I would be doing what I loved – communicating history with technology.

And sure enough, my career at the Film Board set me up perfectly for a job as a professor at McGill. Instead of hiring someone who looked like everybody else, McGill chose me, because the NFB had given me a new perspective, and new skills – to lead teams, to create new technologies, to speak French. And that NFB experience, coupled with my time at McGill, set me up perfectly to be a Canada Research Chair here at Brock.

When I set out, I never thought I would take this roundabout route from the university to technology production and back again. But what I learned along the way set me up to do exactly that which I had always hoped to – I get to live my dream.

In the next few days I hope you take a look at some of the commencement addresses that have been given, in places like this, to graduates like you. What you’ll hear again and again from the likes of Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, or Ellen DeGeneres is that they didn’t wait for deer, they went hunting, and took an unusual route.

When Steve Jobs was fired as CEO of Apple, the company he had created, he decided to try something different. He learned about digital animation, took over a company and turned it into Pixar Studios, and transformed movies as we know them. The he applied what he had learned from his experience to computing, transformed computers as we know them. He lived a full life and got where he wanted.

Graduates, today is that day that you embark upon your journey.

It may take you to some places that you hadn’t expected. You might teach in China. Build iPhone apps. Make movies. There are so many opportunities open to you. And when you get where you want to be, you will realize that the search was as important as the destination, and that you’re a better teacher, and a better person, for the way you did it.

In closing, Class of 2012, remember the deer sign.

A few weeks ago at 7 in the morning, I went for a walk, through my backyard and into the woods. I was startled to run into my son Jacob and his best friend. Jacob carried his bow and arrow. His friend had a BB gun.

I asked, What are you guys doing?

“Hunting.”

“Get anything?”

“No” they were grinning ear to ear. “But we saw three turkeys, a rabbit…and a deer”.

All the best with your deer hunting. I wish you way more than luck.