Congratulations graduates: Enjoy what your futures hold

 A NEW CHAPTER

High school graduation brings new beginnings, a renewed sense of excitement, a new chapter in life.

Congratulations to all the Town of Webb seniors who are moving on with their lives and headed for opportunities yet to be discovered.

Always remember that your parents, a long, long time ago, started a new chapter in their lives as well.

There was the excitement of finally leaving the home and being on your own, making daily decisions of what to do, where to go and how to act.

Pursuing the career goal with a college education is a great plan to have in place.

Some plans come to fruition, some get altered slightly and others take a complete turn-around.As a new HS graduate, no matter what direction you take, keep yourself focused. Absorb the lessons of your career path, get involved with the programs and take it all in.

Through this process you will define your own interests and become more comfortable with your abilities.

Each generation is faced with different opportunities and different challenges when finishing High School. None of them are better or worse than the other, just different.

Back in the early 1970’s, the educational choices were very similar in many ways.

All the “traditional” avenues like medicine, engineering, architecture, accounting, law, teaching, environmental studies, communication, were all available.

Today, there seems to be even more careers to look into primarily because of increased technologies available today.

Take my “little” Lizziye for instance…(have to get a plug in for her!!)… going into the study of film at Emerson College in Boston. WOW! How cool is that?

What a time to get involved with an industry that has been changing with technology.

Her passion is writing, but her experiences at Emerson may lead her to yet to be discovered horizons within the film industry.

The world of film sure sounds a lot more exciting than the world of code enforcement.

Who actually goes into college with the dream of becoming a code enforcement officer?

Maybe a fire fighter or a police officer, or even a fire investigator, but a code enforcement officer… probably not.

Most people do not even know this type of career exists until they need a building permit!

Just like all other careers, the world of code enforcement has taken on a whole different level.

Thirty years ago, smaller municipalities had a retired person, part time, designated as the local building inspector or zoning officer.

Larger cities have had more aggressive enforcement for many years, but the small cities, towns and villages were pretty lax until 1980.

Unfortunately a number of catastrophic events around the country sparked a whole new initiative to provide better oversight for construction and fire safety related systems in all buildings, especially public assembly areas and multiple housing projects.

In 1984, New York State, after many years of review, research, consultation and legislative initiatives, adopted the first mandated set of codes for construction.

This new code applied to all structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, fire safety, existing building renovation, use, occupancy and property maintenance of all buildings and properties in the state.

This new set of codes are still called the NYS Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code, otherwise known as the “Uniform Code.”

Along with this new Uniform Code was the mandate of education and training for enforcement officers, the passing of a New York State exam, and every municipality had to provide administration and enforcement for all properties.

Since 1984, the education and training process has become much more professional and recognized.

Now, there are college programs that are specific to code enforcement. Imagine that!

Education and knowledge are powerful tools… take advantage of your college experience, it will guide you to so many new opportunities to be discovered.

Congratulations Town of Webb Class of 2012—Best of Luck!