"Dr." Arnold Schwarzenegger offers USC's class of 2009 some friendly advice after
receiving an honorary degree as a Doctor of Humane Letters. (photo by C. J. Dablo)

 

After receiving an honorary doctorate degree on Friday from the University of Southern California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger jokingly suggested that his new title might offer more clout in Sacramento.

"Wow, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Doctor of Humane Letters. I love it," Schwarzenegger told USC's class of 2009. "But maybe now since I'm the doctor ... the Legislature will finally listen to me."

Schwarzenegger delivered the commencement address to USC's 4,500 graduates, who were in attendance along with their families and supporters. (Views the full webcast of Schwarzenegger's appearance at USC here.)

The governor's commencement speech comes one day after he announced radical proposals to state law makers to fix California's budget problems.   In order to handle a deficit totaling $15.4 billon, Schwarzenegger recommended to the state legislature Thursday to eliminate 5,000 state employee jobs and to make other drastic budget cuts, especially in health care and education.

While the state's economic problems were not directly mentioned during his Friday commencement address, Schwarzenegger acknowledged that the graduates may face difficult times as they transitioned out of the academic world.

With a light, humorous tone peppered with frequent references to his past movies throughout his address, the governor offered the graduates "Dr. Schwarzenegger's Six Rules of Success." He used his life story to illustrate how hard work and determination took an ambitious Austrian youth all the way to Hollywood and eventually to the steps of the State Capitol.

The governor recommended to "work your ass off" and encouraged the new alumni, who, with degrees in hand, may be now hunting for a job. 

"I know you're a little bit stressed-out right now as you start this exciting new chapter in your lives. Some people say it is scary to leave the comfort of the university and go out in the cold, hard world. But I have to tell you something; I think this is a bunch of nonsense because after all, this is America."

In a state where budget cuts threaten more jobs and where the unemployment rates have now climbed to 11.2 percent, graduates acknowledged how the reality of the economic downturn could impact their prospects for their future.

A new recipient of a doctorate degree in history, Gustavo Licon had already been looking for a job over the last year. He knew firsthand the difficulty of landing a position and the disappointment over vanishing career opportunities.

"More than half of the jobs that I applied for were canceled or frozen," Licon said as he recalled his frustrations with job hunting. "So I think I've gotten a taste for it already. At least I'll have my degree now." Licon did find a year-long teaching position at a college and hopes eventually to find a tenure-track faculty position at a university.

And the graduates also understand that the job market will be competitive, even in disciplines that seemed to be a safer bet in previous days.

An undergraduate who just received her bachelor's in accounting, Gina Yi thought she had a stable major where there would always be jobs. While Yi managed to turn an internship at Deloitte and Touche into a full-time position, she says that many of her classmates weren't so fortunate and are still on the job hunt.

"Yeah, I got really lucky, and if I didn't intern, I don't think I would have gotten a full-time offer. Only a handful of people did."

Anup Baldawa just received his master's degree in computer science.

"This market is going crazy so they have a lot of internship calls but not full-time job calls,"  Baldawa said as he took a break from posing for graduation pictures with his classmates.  He is already working as a business analyst but notes that many of his classmates with new degrees in computer science are still struggling with the job search.

But Kevin Ellison isn't panicking about his career. A senior with a bachelor's degree in social sciences with an economics emphasis, Ellison doesn't have a job yet, but he is ready to enjoy the summer. 

"Let's see what happens," Ellison said.

Despite California's economic and unemployment problems, Schwarzenegger still predicted greater days ahead for the state and the nation. And he wasn't shy to throw one last allusion to his "Terminator" movie days.

"We are in tough times now and there's a lot of uncertainty in the world. But there is one thing certain: We'll be back ... And we will be back stronger and more prosperous than ever before. Because that is what California and America has always done."