Last night I had the honor of handing out 2010 Leadership Awards to exemplary students from Rhode Island’s high schools. I do this every May, and each time I’m reminded of the great potential of our state and hope for the future, represented by these young leaders who have already made a difference in their schools and communities.
This is also graduation season, a visible reminder of the impressive institutions of higher education in Rhode Island. We have a tremendous amount of young talent in this state attending our universities. We need to work to keep them here, contributing their skills and energy.
For despite the serious challenges we face (and we do face them—we heard last night that health insurers are again seeking double-digit rate hikes that we simply cannot afford, for example), I still believe in Rhode Island’s potential—and that a number of things are going right.
This was a common refrain at a symposium last week sponsored by Grow Smart RI, a nonprofit aimed at improving the Rhode Island economy by focusing on its assets, which drew national officials from HUD, the DOT and the EPA. We heard how we can make our compact size work for us, rather than against us.
And as Scott MacKay’s piece on WRNI yesterday reminds us, don’t lose sight of what’s good about living in Rhode Island. Let’s work together to build on our strengths —and make Rhode Island a place that we, our children, and those attending our universities, will want to continue to call home.