Chicken Soup for the College Soul
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She had a perspective on her place in the scheme of things. And though it was not grand by titlenot architect, not mason, not stained-glass-window makershe had a perception of her place in the scheme of things. "Me? I am building a cathedral for the glory of God." She, too, was a barking pig, like Normanone of his distant cousins.
I give you these two stories to cast a perspective on what you do when you go from this place. This institution at its very finest is in the business of helping barking pigs find their place. This institution in its every partstaff, faculty, parents, students and visitorsis not just a school but part of that human endeavor of building, if not a cathedral for the glory of God, at least an invisible cathedral for the best in the human spirit.
The thing that strikes me about a cathedral at Chartres is, that town was no bigger than this onethirty five thousand people, give or take. And they built this
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incredible thing. The other amazing thing about the building of Chartres is that they started something that they knew they would never see finished. But if they did not start it, it would not ever be finished, and so they began.
I said I would not give you advice, and I would simply pass on that reflection to you. I leave the rest of the thinking that comes from those two stories up to you.
I would like to make a personal request. For my own strange reasons, I did not go on to have an academic degree laid on me. But I am a practical man, and so I would like to request from this class and the administration of this college that you give me the gift of this chair, this very chair, so that long days from now I can sit in it, and it will bring to mind this lovely day, this amazing institution, this sweet life and the remarkable and unforgettable company of all of you.
Robert Fulghum
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Humor Them!
One of the requirements of every commencement speaker is that they offer some advice. Well, get ready, here it comes.
Soon you will be leaving the company of those who think they have all the answersyour professors, instructors and counselorsand going out into what we like to call the real world. In time you will meet up with other people who think they have all the answers. These people are called bosses. My advice is: humor them.
A little later you will meet additional people who think they have all the answers. These are called spouses. My advice is: humor them, too.
And if all goes well, in a few years you will meet still another group of people who think they have all the answers. These are called children. Humor them.
Life will go on, your children will grow up, go to school, and someday they could be taking part in a commencement ceremony just like this one. And who knows, the speaker responsible for handing out good advice might be you. Halfway through your speech, the graduate sitting next to your daughter will lean over and ask, "Who is that woman up there who thinks she has all the answers?"
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Well, thanks to the sound advice you are hearing today and that I hope you will all pass on, she will be able to say, "That is my mother. Humor her."
Katherine D. Ortega
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Know Where You're Going!
How important is it to know what you want and where you're going? A study of the graduates of one Harvard class thirty years later says it all: 80 percent had no specific goals, 15 percent had ones they only thought about and 5 percent had written goals (dreams with deadlines). The 5 percent, measured by net assets, had not only surpassed the goals they wrote down for themselves but, as a group, had more net worth than the other 95 percent combined. Impressive!
Speaker's Sourcebook II
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Don't Go!
[EDITORS' NOTE: The following remarks are from George Plimpton's 1977 speech as Class Day Speaker at Harvard University's commencement exercises. Mr. Plimpton is a graduate of Harvard.]
I have been led to understand that tomorrow you are going to graduate. Well, my strong recommendation is that you don't go. Stop! Go on back to your rooms. Unpack! There's not much out here. Chekhov tells the story of the traveler faced with three roads . . . if he takes the one to the right the wolves will eat him up, if he takes the one to the left he will eat up the wolves, and if he takes the one to the center he will eat himself up.
The point is we don't want you out here very much. We on the outside see graduation as a terrible eventthe opening of an enormous dovecote from which spring into the air tens of thousands of graduates. What is particularly disturbing is that you all come out at the same timeJunehordes, with your dark graduation cloaks darkening the earth. Why is it that you can't be squeezed out one at a time, like peach pits, so that the society can absorb you without feeling suffocated?
My own profession is being swamped with writers
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coming out of college, despite the condition out here that no one reads. Indeed, my friend Kurt Vonnegut was saying the other day that the only solution to the moribund state of publishing would be to require of all those on welfare that before receiving their welfare checks, they must hand in a book report.
So go back to your rooms and stay. True, there may be some practical problems. The deans may come tapping at your door like hotel concierges wondering about checkout time. Tell the dean through the door that you don't think you should go out into the world with a C minus in Economics 10. Great damage can be caused to the economic structure, and probably already has, by Harvard men out there who earned a C minus in Economics 10; you must tell the dean you don't want to compound such a situation.
The dean will say that he needs the room for the junior who is going to become a seniorthe process must go on. Tell him there's no reason why the juniors can't stay juniors, the sophomores, sophomores and the freshmen, freshmen. Tell him to stop the process. Why should the process go on? The Harvard Lampoon has had, in its century of operation, one hundred different editorial boards. Has it improved? Probably not. Why not keep the same one?
Besides, we are told all the time what a marvelous institution Harvard is. Benjamin DeMott once likened Harvard to the continent of Europe: "Either you've been there or you haven't." And you'll all remember the Boston dowager who said of a nephew: "He doesn't go to college, he goes to Brown." Why do they tell us such things if they don't want us to stay? So tell the dean you're convinced. You've decided to stay. You're not going to budge!
After a while the dean will go away. Deans always go away. They go away to ponder things. They will assume that your parents will finally force the issue. They'll want
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you home. But I am not so sure. I have the sense that parents would rather not know what's being sent home to them these days from the collegesnot unlike receiving a mysterious package tied with hemp, addressed in rather queasy lettering from Dutch Guiana.
They'd much rather you stay here. When a mother is asked about her son at the country-club dance she can always say: "Why, John's off at Harvard." There's something quite grand about that certainly compared to: "Well, the last time I saw him he was . . . throwing a Frisbee in the backyard."
If your parents insist you pack up and come home, there are always measures. If you're a chemistry major, tell them that you've become very attached to something in a vat of formaldehyde. If you're pre-law, tell them that you're thinking of bringing home a tort. Your parents will probably have forgotten what a tort is, if they ever knew, and it sounds unpleasantsomething that your mom wouldn't want to have stepping suddenly out of a hall closet. Surely, there is hardly an academic field of one's choice which does not have a nightmare possibility with which to force one's parent to pony up enough to allow nearly a decade of contemplation in one's room.
You'll remember the King in Alice in Wonderland. When asked: "Where shall I begin?" the King says, "Begin at the beginning, and go on until you come to the end; then stop." What I am suggesting is that you stop at the beginning, stop at your commencemen
t. It's not very interesting to stop at the endI mean everyone does that. So stop now. Tell them you won't go. Go back to your rooms. Unpack!
George Plimpton
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MORE CHICKEN SOUP?
Many of the stories and poems that you have read in this book were submitted by readers like you who have read other Chicken Soup for the Soul books. We would love to have you contribute a story, poem, quote or cartoon to future editions of Chicken Soup for the College Soul and Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul.
Feel free to send us stories you write yourself, or even ones that you clip out of your campus newspaper, local newspaper or a magazine. It could also be a favorite poem, quotation or cartoon you have saved that speaks to your college experience. If you find something in another book or off the Internet that you think others would enjoy, send them to us as well. Just make sure to send us as much information as possible about where it came from.
Chicken Soup for the College Soul
P.O. Box 936
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
fax: 310-573-3657
e-mail: stories@teenagechickensoup.com
(Please indicate ''teen'' or "college" on your submission.)
You can submit a story or send an e-mail by visiting our Web site at:
www.teenagechickensoup.com
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SUPPORTING COLLEGE STUDENTS
With each Chicken Soup for the Soul book that we publish, we designate one or more charities to receive a portion of the profits that are generated. Charities that we have supported in the past include the American Red Cross, Literacy Volunteers of America, the National Arbor Day Foundation, the Union Rescue Mission, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the American Association of University Women Education Foundation, Habitats for Humanity, Save the Children, Feed the Children, Covenant House, PetSmart Charities and the Yellow Ribbon Project.
We will be donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book to: National Association for Campus Activities (NACA), the BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network and National Association for College Admission Counseling.
National Association for Campus Activities (NACA)
NACA is a member-based, not-for-profit association composed of colleges and universities, talent firms and artists/performers, student programmers and leaders, and professional campus activities staff.
The Association's objectives are to inspire excellence in student leadership development and programs outside the college classroom, advance the campus activities profession and enhance the campus entertainment marketplace.
In 1982, the Association founded the NACA Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves to implement the Association's educational programs and services. The
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Foundation awards scholarships to students and staff and offers numerous workshops and resources to train and inform students and professionals in the campus activities field. The Foundation addresses leadership development interests and needs on campuses, as well as basic skill development related to presenting events and programs.
The National Association for Campus Activities can be contacted at:
National Association for Campus Activities
13 Harbison Way
Columbia, SC 29212-3401
phone: 803-732-6222
fax: 803-749-1047
Web site: www.naca.org
BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network
The BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network is an international association of college- and university-based peer-education programs focusing on alcohol- and drug-abuse prevention and other related student health and safety issues such as rape and sexual assault, eating disorders and HIV/AIDS prevention education.
The association's mission is to actively promote peer education as a useful element of campus health education and wellness efforts.
BACCHUS and GAMMA students work hard to meet the needs of their own campus and take advantage of the strength associated with their network of nearly twenty-five thousand active members across the country.
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The BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network can be contacted at:
The BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network
P.O. Box 100430
Denver, CO 80250-0430
phone: 303-871-0901
fax: 303-871-0907
Web site: www.bacchusgamma.org
National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC)
Founded in 1937, NACAC is an organization of professionals dedicated to serving students as they explore options and make choices about pursuing postsecondary education. NACAC's mission is to support and advance the work of both secondary school and college admission counselors as they help students realize their full educational potential, with particular emphasis on the transition from secondary schools to colleges and universities. NACAC pursues this mission with particular attention to access and equity for all students.
NACAC represents more than 6,600 members at the secondary and college and university levels of education and in a variety of organizations and agencies. Through its members, tens of thousands of students and parents are also represented.
As representatives of secondary schools, colleges and universities, NACAC members affirm the dignity, worth and potential of all human beings. Members work to develop counseling programs and services for admission and financial assistance that eliminate bias on any grounds.
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NACAC can be contacted at:
National Association for College
Admission Counseling (NACAC)
1631 Prince Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-2818
phone: 800-822-6285 or 703-836-2222
fax: 703-836-8015
Web site: www.nacac.com
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WHO IS JACK CANFIELD?
Jack Canfield is a bestselling author and one of America's leading experts in the development of human potential. He is both a dynamic and entertaining speaker and a highly sought-after trainer with a wonderful ability to inform and inspire audiences to open their hearts, love more openly, and boldly pursue their dreams.
Jack spent his teenage years growing up in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and Wheeling, West Virginia, with his sister Kimberly (Kirberger) and his two brothers, Rick and Taylor. Jack won a scholarship to attend Harvard University, where he majored in Chinese history. Jack played intramural football and was a member of the Harvard rugby team. He was also a member of the SAE fraternity, where he was the social chairman and later the vice president of the chapter.
After graduating from Harvard, Jack pursued a masters degree and a doctorate in education at the University of Chicago and the University of Massachusetts. He taught undergraduate and graduate classes at U Mass, Hampshire College and the School for International Training. He later developed a graduate-education program for Beacon College in Massachusetts.
In recent years, Jack has focused most of his efforts on the empowerment of adult learners in both educational and corporate settings.
For further information about Jack's books, tapes and trainings or to schedule him for a presentation, please contact:
The Canfield Training Group
P.O. Box 30880 Santa Barbara, CA 93130
phone: 805-563-2935 fax: 805-563-2945
e-mail: theresa@canfieldgroup.com
Web site: www.chickensoup.com