2019 IMM Graduation Speech
Congratulations IMM class of 2019; your thesis projects are DONE!!
(Right?)
Seriously your Sr. Showcase was inspirational. They give me the confidence to tell you that this class will tilt the world for the better. Thank you for once again being my teacher — I tested two new syllabi on you; so you taught me.
So… you made it. And now, you’re about to leave TCNJ and jump into a misty, unknown future full of huge challenges. Let me give you two final bits of advice before you leave.
1. COMPOUNDING INTEREST
2. GET A JOURNAL
Go out and get a good quality moleskin notebook and a good quality sharpie, start collecting doodles, notes, crazy ideas, setbacks and victories.
One of my heroes, Fred Rogers used to do this. According to his wife, Joanne, Fred always had scraps of paper in his wallet with his notes and quotes that he heard from others. Here are four starter quotes for your journal.
· “There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.” Fred Rogers from the forward of the Max King book.
· Because you’re all new technology masters, remember that technology can magnify the best and the worst of human behavior. Look at the challenges faced by privacy and Facebook right now; this will be your generations biggest challenge. Fred recognized the power of new media. He said
“no matter what the machine may be, it was people who thought it up and made it, and it’s people who make it work” (Rogers, 1994, p. 64) from Chip Donahue.
Fred saw the dawn of TV and DNA and understood that our generation is special — the first to deal with these big questions. What’s the solution? IMM student Josh Albright nailed it, in his journal —
“we can’t ever censor out all the bad. But we can make more good.” Albright, 2018
One last quote for your journal come with a story about Fred Rogers that’s not in any movie or book. As many of you know, interactive designer Emmett O’Neill (the Chief Creative Officer of StoryToys) has been working closely with children’s author Eric Carle, who is now 89 years old, and is the author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. He asked me — I’m going to see Eric next week, do you want me to ask him something? I said, ask for a Fred story. He relayed this story about John.
Who was John? In Eric Carle’s words à “That guy that every town seems to have one of, probably you’d call him schizophrenic or something like that now, but he was a gentle sort. John would tell you that he was the head of local law enforcement, the head of the FBI or the CIA whenever he got the chance.
We were shooting a segment out on the main street with Fred and John comes along to see what’s going on. Of course he recognized Fred from the television and had to speak to him. Fred’s people tried to keep John away, but Fred saw him and went over to talk to him. John said something like “I just want to let you know, I’m the head of local law enforcement around here.” Fred looked at John and said “That sounds like a very important job. You must be a very important person.”
[How do you respond when a “crazy” person approaches you?]
He talked to John for a while and then Fred asked us to take their picture, which we did. John had been listened to and he was happy to go about his business. I (Eric Carle) developed the picture and gave it to John the next week.
From then on, whenever anyone stopped to talk to John he would say “I’m the head of local law enforcement, the head of the CIA, and a close personal friend of Fred Rogers.” And he would show a picture to prove the last bit.”
So my quote for your notebook is one that Fred kept in his wallet, according to his wife, Joanne. And that is …
“There isn’t anyone you couldn’t love once you’ve heard their story.” (by author, and Benedictine Sister, Mary Lou Kownacki)
Save that one… and take it with you… it’s powerful.
Bon voyage!
