First and foremost: my gratitude. Thank you for sharing this
year with me, with each other. Thank you for challenging me, sharing your
stories, being game enough to engage in the challenges I have offered. You have
no idea how much gratitude I have for being here at the start of this STEMM
journey with you bright shining people. To paraphrase Mahatma Ghandi, you are
the change I wish to see in the world. You are absurdly amazing and I am so
lucky.
1. This is your
education. This is not for anyone else but you. This is not about grades,
though they are one measure of your engagement and effort. This is about the
life of the mind, and you want to have a rich life of the mind. That kind of
wealth cannot be lost. And it will prove useful in dark times.
2. Read. Read books. Read every day. Read when you are lost.
Live in someone else’s shoes, walk around in their world, and see how your
ability to imagine, connect, and have empathy grows.
3. Multitasking is a myth. Be present and engaged every day,
to the fullest extent you can. You will learn so much more if you are not
trying to secretly text your people while a class is unfolding. The more you
connect to the worthy work before you, to your fellow scholars, to your mentors
and teachers, the more you will get out of your time, and you will elevate the
work of others around you.
4. Build in screen-free, unplugged time into each day, where
you are simply present to the air, the trees, the sky, your people. Notice how
many of us are on screens when we could be talking, laughing, and relating to
each other. You don’t have to text someone back RIGHT NOW in the middle of
something that deserves your full attention.
5. Embrace slowness. Practice thoughtfulness, reject
reactivity. Practice considering both sides of the story. Practice building
patience, waiting, delaying gratification, working for what you want. It will
mean more.
6. Do not fear your own greatness. The wise woman Marianne
Williamson has written: “Your playing small doesn't serve the world…as we let our own light
shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're
liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Do things you fear. Embrace the beginner’s mind, notice the
process of building a skill.
7. Be kind to your heart, your body, your mind. Demand that
others do the same. Make sure you surround yourself with people who honor you
and treat you well.
8. As J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan wrote, “Shall we make
a new rule of life…always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?” Be kinder than is necessary, practice random
acts of kindness. Give your time to those who need your fresh perspective. Our
elders, our youth, our forgotten and discarded citizens: they have stories that
will break you wide open with wonder. Ask them for their stories. Listen.
9. Sustainability guru Alex Steffen says this: “Optimism is
a political act. Those who benefit from the status quo are perfectly happy for
us to think nothing is going to get any better. In fact, these days, cynicism
is obedience.” Reject cynicism. It is the easy way out, the too-cool for school
shortcut people take to avoid worthy work instead of digging in and making
their lives matter. Make things better with your positivity.
10. My favorite quote right now, from Buddha: “In the end,
only three things matter: How much you have loved, how gently you have lived,
and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”
Love big, live gently, and let go of things not meant for
you. It might be pettiness, judgment, escapism, irresponsibility, bitterness.
Whatever it is, practice letting go.
Enjoy the summer. See you in August.
~Ms. W
