Posted May 13, 2015

 

Phones down, eyes up. I have something very important to say. I’m thrilled to be your high school graduation speaker today.

 

Many of you have no idea what you want to do with your life, so please indulge me for a few minutes to offer some primo career advice. At your age, I knew I wanted to be a writer, and I reached that goal early on and have continuously honed the craft for years. I cut my teeth in journalism, which circuitously led me to the wonderful world of … textiles. Textiles, you ask? Why, yes, indeed.

 

Many of you are probably familiar with the term. In short, textiles in its various forms touches everyone every day – literally. From the clothes you wear to the towel you dry off with to the rug you walk on, textiles is as much a part of our lives as your electronic gadgets. But it’s much more than that and is always hiding in places where you may not expect it – in heart valve prostheses, in tires, in wind turbine rotor blades and in seed bed covers, for instance. Just to name a few.

 

Textiles is one of the oldest industries in the world, and it continues to reach new technological heights in providing our basic needs of shoes, shelter and clothing as well as scientifically advanced products for the automotive, aerospace, military, medical and technical areas such as electronics. Textile products also provide state-of-the-art protection for our soldiers, firefighters and security personnel.

 

Are you still with me? Good. So what does that mean for someone like you trying to figure out which career path to take? Plenty. Job options in textiles are wide and varied. The textile industry – and I include apparel in that description, as well – is full of chemists, technologists, designers, engineers, managers, buyers, sales personnel and more. These are all pretty cool jobs, if you ask me, and some of your education will include study in many of these areas, which may pique your interest in exploring textiles.

 

Not planning to attend college? There are plenty of opportunities for you, too, although the better trained you are, the better chance you’ll have for advancement. Trade schools and company training programs can provide you the skills you need to operate high-tech machinery and equipment. Do you have mechanical and electronic skills, or as we call it, “mechatronics?” They could come in handy when trying to figure out why a fabric is defective coming off a weaving machine.

 

OK, now let’s get to the elephant in the football stadium. You’ve all probably heard bad things about the textile industry. It’s dirty, smelly, noisy, unsafe, labor intensive and so yesterday, right? Au contraire. Don’t believe everything you read on Yahoo or hear from your grandfather. Today’s textile industry is clean, modern, efficient, high tech and air conditioned – at least in America. And the pay and benefits are well above average, to boot.

 

Oh, and would you believe the U.S. textile industry is the world’s third largest textile exporter in the world? You didn’t read that on Facebook, did you? Plus, the U.S. textile industry is making a comeback. Feel free to share that with your granddad – no charge. Hundreds of companies employing many thousands of people right here in the USA are making textiles these days. And they’re looking for people just like you.