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Looking Forward, Looking Back
By Neil Peterson | December 31, 2008
Another year is winding down. As 2008 draws to a close and 2009 approaches, many Americans are busy drawing up their New Year’s Resolutions. Lose weight. Quit smoking. Go back to school. Exercise more.
Resolutions have their place. They can motivate individuals to make badly needed changes in their lives. Unfortunately, however, it seems that many resolutions are abandoned almost before they’re even made. An increased interest in gym memberships at the beginning of the year followed by a tailing off of gym attendance come February is the stereotypical example.
I’d like to propose that perhaps there’s a more balanced way of looking at New Year’s resolutions-an approach that’s more effective, more rewarding, and more selfless.
During my senior year at Williams College as a poli sci major, I had the opportunity to take an honors course under James MacGregor Burns, a well-known poli sci professor and presidential biographer. The small class size-15 students-coupled with tutelage under a brilliant man made for an exciting year. The culmination of the course was our senior thesis. The topic: “Your Intellectual Autobiography.”
I jumped into the assignment enthusiastically-reading, researching, reflecting. I interviewed family and friends. I self-administered several tests to get a better sense of myself and my beliefs. I scoured previous school records and teacher comments. And I asked questions, questions, and more questions. I was so intent on my research that I didn’t even go home for Thanksgiving. I labored on the thesis straight through the vacation, never leaving campus.
My hard work paid off. I got an “A+” on the 125-page thesis. But more importantly, I came to understand what made me who I was. I realized that what made me me hadn’t been gleaned from textbooks, lectures, or homework assignments. The essence of who I was-what I believed, what I valued, what made me tick-was the sum total of the emotion-filled experiences I’d had in life.
Many years later, in 1987, I heard Paul Ylvisaker give a speech at the 1987 International Outward Bound Conference in Cooperstown, New York, that captured the essence of learning. Paul, who had served as Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Commissioner of Community Affairs for the State of New Jersey, and Director of National Affairs for the Ford Foundation, was my mentor and professor in graduate school. He also offered me my first full-time job after graduation.
“There is no learning without challenge and emotion,” Paul said. “The things you learn the best…are emotional in character.”
Paul captured what I had learned many years before in working on my thesis. By first looking backward and understanding more fully who I was, I was then able to look forward-and ultimately to move forward. This, I believe, is essential to lasting change. We must first understand who we are-where we’ve been, who has affected us, why we are the way we are-before we can move forward with any change in our lives.
Perhaps we also need to think about other people’s needs more, too. Are we so wrapped up in our own self-improvement that we forget about those around us who are desperately in need?
I recently came across an article about a new web site that helps people make and track selfless New Year’s resolutions-resolutions like volunteering and giving money. What a great idea! This echoes perfectly another insight Paul Ylvisaker made the day I heard him speak in 1987. “What makes a difference?” Paul asked. “Why did you succeed, and why do your brothers sometimes fail?”
Paul, answering his own question, responded, “I met a caring person. Someone who believed in me-a mother, a teacher, a taxi cab driver, a neighbor. Somebody took an interest in and treated me as a worthy human being.”
As we make New Year’s resolutions this year, let’s move beyond the usual empty promises. Let us remember to first look back-so that we understand where we’ve been, who we are-but even more importantly, let us remember to look around, to see the needs of those around us.
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Topics: Education, General, Inspiration, Stories | 1 Comment »
January 2nd, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Dear Neil,
Thank you for a highly intelligent article.
I believe that your deep concern about people in need
ls timeless but Today in our country it became not just
Words of New Year resolution but The practical way to
live your life. I am with you 100%!