Bishop Burton said the graduates now will go different directions in life, but he encouraged them to continue to pursue excellence. He noted that " the small and simple objectives of life, accomplished one or two at a time, will cumulatively add to a life filled with joy and a life filled with satisfaction — a life that has contributed in a major way to the betterment of mankind."

One way to accomplish that, he said, was to replace the words "I" and "me" with "they" and "we."

"It is a whole different focus. It changes one's emphasis from self to others," he said. "When we deliberately try to do this, we tend to care far more about the welfare of other people and dwell less on ourselves."

Student Mark Humbert said graduates are now closer to their goals and thanked the college, its staff and its instructors for time and wisdom in helping the students.

"We are leaving the college but will not discard those experiences that we received," Humbert said. "We will remember the patience, the understanding, the awesome memories and the love that we received here and will use the skills given to us here to guide us through the many big decisions that we are faced with."

Student Aleksandra Salo said LDS Business College was more than a school. "It was home, where we knew that we were always welcomed," she said.

And, following Woodhouse's theme, she said Thursday represented a beginning of a lifelong education.

"Today, we reached the top of one of many mountains in our life. ... Today's ending is tomorrow's beginning," Salo said. "Tomorrow, we will start again from the bottom of the next mountain of our life."

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LDS Business College

A total of 492 degrees and certificates were awarded Thursday to 289 students at 120th commencement.

E. Bruce Haws, vice president and trust officer of Deseret Trust Co., received the Distinguished Alumnus Award, the college's highest award.

Overall enrollment this year averaged 1,348 students. Students come from 45 states and about 50 countries.

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E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com