12 Georgia. The folks who have gotten to know me know that this is home to me, and I have concrete reasons why it鈥檚 so special to me. It鈥檚 a place that I love calling home, but I can be honest and say that it鈥檚 not perfect. There are real challenges that we have to overcome. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce hosted a series of listening sessions in 2016 and went around the state asking folks, 鈥淲hat are the issues? What do we need to be aware of that maybe our board hasn鈥檛 thought of before?鈥� Chamber representatives came back and presented their findings in early 2017. In many ways that鈥檚 what got this conversation started. We had a community group of leaders here in Valdosta and at other points across rural Georgia who got together to hear what they had found, what had been found related to our demographic trending, our labor trending, etc., and quite frankly it was scary. There were issues there that we probably, at some level, knew were problems, but when you see it in front of you at the level that we did, it is hard to ignore. It started a conversation, certainly here in our county, but frankly it started a conversation throughout South Georgia. Yes, we have great quality of life. Yes, we have things that make this a wonderful place to call home. That doesn鈥檛 mean there aren鈥檛 things we need to work on. My vision for South Georgia is that we continue to accentuate and appreciate the positive aspects of the place we love calling home and that we remain willing to address those issues that have been identified that are frankly not new. If we bury our heads in the sand and do nothing, 10 years from now those issues could be when they graduate, finish their schooling, and then see if they can find a job in that place. I don鈥檛 think everybody does that, but it鈥檚 a common trait, one seen by folks who do generational studies. It seems like a small thing, but it has been transformative. What it has meant is that in places like rural Georgia, where we can graduate a bunch of folks from 番茄直播app, who then want to move to Atlanta, Georgia, or Jacksonville, Florida, or places like that, well, that leaves a workforce hole for the businesses we have that are looking for the next generation of workers. This is particularly important as our baby boomers get older and we start seeing a greying of our population. That鈥檚 an example of one of the kinds of issues that the Georgia Chamber of Commerce is hoping to address 鈥� How do we make our rural communities more attractive to millennials and even to Generation X, Generation Y, and so on. Valdosta State University Magazine: What do you envision for the future of South Georgia? Dr. Richard A. Carvajal: I love South We are going to judge the health of this university based upon the health of South Georgia. 鈥� DR. RICHARD CARVAJAL 鈥� 鈥�