Mikhail Gorbachev came to town!

On Friday, I had the privilege of going to listen to a guest speaker in town.  He was here as part of the University's push toward internationalization.  Yes, on Friday I listened to a one-hour speech given by Mikhail Gorbachev...past president of the USSR, now known as Russia.

It was quite an experience and I'm so glad that I made the decision to go to his talk. He had a lot of good things to say!  Some of the things that I enjoyed the most from his speech were the following:

• When asked about who influenced him the most throughout his experiences, Gorbachev didn't name any person, but he said it was literature.  He said, “Even now when everyone has television, when you have this multitude of channels, don’t forget what will enrich you — reading a book. Think about it.”
• He said, "Things cannot stay the same forever.  You have to embrace change."
• About Russia (but could apply to anyone):  “Today, there is a lot of discontent. Many people are unhappy,” he said. “And some are saying about those elections [that] no one will take our individual opinion into account. And I say to the Russian people: Go and vote.”

The above photo was the one taken at our particular event.  The other two photos in the blog were taken from other speaking events in which Gorbechav had a part.


Other thoughts from his speech:

• "Either we will have peace for all or there will be no peace at all," Gorbachev said. "Today, I think we fully understand the importance."
• Gorbachev said his advice to future leaders is to never panic. "There will be failure," he said, "But the most important thing is to persevere." Persevere, be creative and don't fear life.

So, it was quite a fantastic experience and I'm so glad for the opportunity!!  It's kind of amazing to think that in this little 'ol town I live in, I have been able to listen to such famous people.  I listened to Barack Obama in 2008 while he was in town for his campaign (for this current presidency) and now Mikhail Gorbachev.  I may not agree with them or believe in their ideas, but it's pretty awesome to be able to say that I listened to them speak at a public event!  Not many people have opportunities like that and I'm so glad that I have been able to take advantage of such amazing opportunities! :)