In college at Ohio University, Dr. Jim Davis not only taught a wonderful writing methods class, he invited me to teach in the Upward Bound program, which still prepares high school kids from low income families to succeed in college. Mary Anne Flournoy, my education professor, showed multiple approaches to learning and above all, to love the subject you teach and the students in your classroom. The university also had an outstanding lecture series that brought in powerful speakers to further our education. Among them were Dick Gregory, a stand-up comic turned political activist (“There’s a God force inside of you that gives you a will to live.”); Joyce Carol Oates, renowned and prolific fiction author (“Life and people are complex. A writer as an artist doesn’t have the personality of a politician. We don’t see the world that simply.”); Buckminster Fuller–architect, futurist, community builder, philosopher (“Your significance will remain forever obscure to you, but you may assume that you are fulfilling your role if you apply yourself to converting your experiences to the highest advantage of others.”); and Arthur Morgan, long-time Yellow Springs resident and design engineer for the Miami Conservancy District which built a highly effective series of dams after the 1913 Dayton Flood (“Life’s greatest adventure is in doing one’s level best.”).
Graduates, I hope you will be students forever, students of life who learn and grow from all experiences, relationships, and yes, books. Perhaps the most inspirational work I have encountered this year is The Impossible First by Colin O’Brady. In 2018 at the age of 33, ten years after a devastating burn incident that nearly destroyed his legs, O’Brady completed the “Explorer’s Grand Slam,” climbing the highest peaks on seven continents (including Mt. Everest) in record time, and then became the first person to cross Antarctica (932 miles) while pulling a 375 pound sled that carried his supplies in sub-zero temperatures in just 54 days. While planning and executing these climbs and treks, he also raised money for a foundation (Beyond 7/2) that would support young people in their quests to achieve personal dreams. In other words, it was not just about him.
Young people have so many opportunities in southwest Ohio to find good jobs, to pursue further education, to receive practical training in worthwhile occupations. No one can reasonably expect to climb the world’s highest peaks in 139 days, but you can reasonably set your sights on achievable goals and “do your level best.”
Jim Brooks is a retired high school English teacher who writes, coaches tennis, and tutors immigrants.
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