Here is the text of a speech Cathie Black gave to the parents and students of the $50,000.00 per year Connecticut boarding school that her own two children attended followed by the text of the speech she gave at her Brooklyn debut before an audience of public school parents, teachers and students at the Panel for Educational Policy packed into the auditorium at Brooklyn Tech High School last Wednesday.
Taking Life On
Prize Day Address, June 6, 2010
Cathleen P. Black
I want to talk to you about “taking life on.” Meeting its challenges. Enjoying its pleasures. Fighting its injustices. Facing disappointments. Getting right back up. Standing up for what you believe in. Finding your passions. You are the generation who will truly be global citizens. By having friends from many cities, countries, and continents, you have learned that similarity of thought and action outweighs many differences. Intelligence, pluck, and determination know no borders. Everything you need to be armed with, everything you will need is contained in the Kent motto—Temperantia, Fiducia, Constantia. For those of you who forgot your Latin in the last weeks of fun and goodbyes… that’s “Simplicity of Life, Directness of Purpose, and Self-Reliance.” That sums up exactly what you will need in the world… and what the world needs from you.
Simplicity helps you focus on what’s really important.
Purpose makes it meaningful.
Self-reliance makes it happen.
Those principles—focus, purpose, and selfreliance— you will need in college. You’ll need them in whatever career you choose. You’ll need them in family life down the road. What you think you want today will undoubtedly change. And that’s fine, too, and just part of growing up and growing wiser and knowing yourself.
I went to a small women’s liberal arts college; Alison has chosen the University of Colorado—25,000 students! Think she wants a completely different college experience than I had? You bet! On our college visit, I can still remember Allie getting out of the car in Boulder, surveying the campus and the mountains in the distance and saying, “This is exactly what I am looking for!” The good news… she got in! But no matter whether big or small, an hour from home, or a coast away—college is an exhilarating and expanding experience. And yes, often scary, too. As you think about your major, this too could change. I was an English major, liked writing and reading, and entered into publishing a long time ago. My publishing career has been more interesting than I could ever imagine, full of challenges, talented people, creative endeavors, and a lot of satisfaction.
Yet at the end of the day, it is my family—loving husband, Tom Harvey, and two great kids, Duffy and Alison—that are my greatest satisfaction. You will figure out what your purpose is. It will not lie in the expectations of parents, teachers, friends, though they have a profound influence on you. You will claim your own purpose and come to define your dreams for yourself. Or in the words of Oprah Winfrey, “Live your best life.”
Your self-reliance has taken root and grown here. That sense of confidence and independence will make you feel at home in the world of college. But there will be many distractions—and a lot fewer rules, so be careful! I hope you will also take advantage of any opportunity to study or travel abroad. I spent my junior year in Rome. It was amazing—enriching, life changing, and a whole lot of fun—expanding my horizons and giving me new goals and dreams. I didn’t realize it then, but I was preparing “to take life on.”
I was always motivated, but I became more selfreliant. Others can teach and guide and mentor you, but just doing—and doing more than is expected— and doing it well, is about self-motivation. Here at Kent you have learned much about motivation and also leadership, through sports—whether on the water, on the fields, on horseback, on the courts—on stage, in the labs, in the studio, in community activities, in clubs. There have been victories and losses, all helping you to learn that life gives and—takes back. And it’s not all about winning. It’s about learning and leading. I want you to think about what it takes to be a leader—for this next phase of your life. One can lead in big and small ways. Standing and taking responsibility is a first step.
Competence and confidence are two more components. The other is knowing that a leader needs followers. They define and decide who the leader is. On the subject of leading others… here’s a short fable Alison recently wrote for Mrs. Stout’s “microfiction” class.
The Goose with the Gray Feather
“The flock began their journey south for the winter. The goose with the gray feather saw another goose leading the flock and knew he could fly faster. “Leaving his place in the V-formation, he flapped strongly until he passed the leading goose. But soon the goose with the gray feather got tired and began to slow down. He glanced behind him but saw no flock… “… For one cannot lead a flock one is not united with.”
That’s a lot of wisdom from an 18-year-old. As you leave today to start a new chapter, I really want you to understand that you are a whole person with every opportunity to maximize life in college and life beyond college classes. Maybe you’ve been known here as an athlete or a brainiac… or both at the same time… or a screw-up or an introvert. Well, whatever you’ve been labeled, you can choose a new persona! You also leave this campus knowing how important it is to take care of others. Compassion has been instilled in you. So be great—in mind and spirit and body. And be kind. There’s no one right path to greatness. The world needs everyone’s gifts, be it politics, sports, rocket science, biotechnology, entertainment, medicine, education, philanthropy, volunteerism. There are many ways to be helpful and caring, and to make your own dreams come true as you take life on.
On the practical side, you’ve already learned more about time management than many people know when they first go to college! You have not had your parents to review homework or get you out of bed in the morning. You know how to get your work done in the time you have to do it. You know what it is like to not just have a roommate, but to learn how to compromise in small ways and small spaces. You also know how to be away from home, some of you from very far distances. That’s a great advantage in those first few months. You understand and embrace diversity. It’s the world you live in. The inclusive student body has given you an appreciation of different types of people with different backgrounds and stories. You also graduate fluent in the language of technology that everyone now speaks around the globe. The importance of this can be summed up by Alison, who recently informed me while she was busy texting with her flying thumbs that, “E-mail is for old people.” Well, I just got an iPad! So there!
But she has a point. The world flies into and out of your palms. It moves way faster than it moved for us, as parents. The world of knowledge and information is yours with one click to Facebook or YouTube or a swipe on an iPhone. Your fluency in technology prepares you to connect, compete, and collaborate globally like never before. It is another way that you can both make a difference in the world and help realize your own big dreams.
Your time at Kent has supplied you with a great experience to help others—whether it be a roommate in need or just a friend who needs a shoulder to cry on. It’s called empathy. At Kent, you have seen helpfulness and experienced the forming of deep friendships that should stay with you for years and years. I have heard many adults say that to this day their circle of boarding school friends are still their best friends. That’s what Science Department Chair and Master of the Guild Jesse Klingebield presented the Stone Bowl for the best Guild paper to Ruxin Michelle Zhao. Kathy Nadire and her daughter, Nora. comes from growing and experiencing so many situations together. One more thing before you leave “to take life on…” As proud graduates, remember in the days and all the years ahead to have fun. And to give back. Work and life brim with opportunities for joy. And for those of you from less fortunate circumstances or complicated family situations, here’s a direct message from the famed basketball star, Magic Johnson.
Just last week I heard him give a talk to 4,000 high school students in Detroit. He told them how he grew up in the projects with six brothers and three sisters and not much food on the table. But it was his mother who said over and over, “It is not where you are from—but who you are.” Kent has taught you a lot about who you are. That should stay with you always. It’s about knowing who you are and being the best that you can be. And always know that happiness has more to do with success than success has to do with happiness.
So go take life on… and don’t forget to say thank you to your own parents and your Kent family. We are all very proud. You should be too!
The best of luck!
Congratulations, Class of 2010!
Difficult Times Ahead
Prepared Speech at Panel for Educational Policy, Brooklyn Tech, January 19, 2011
Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Good evening to members of the panel, elected representatives and to everyone assembled here tonight. By being here, you’re displaying a real commitment to public school education and I appreciate you for coming to make your voices heard. Thank you to the members of the Panel for the Educational Policy. This panel has played a vital role in the major policy changes that have dramatically improved student outcomes in our city. I look forward to working closely with you on the important issues that we are all facing during very difficult times ahead. We must continue to keep the children of New York City at the forefront of our decisions and be thoughtful, but bold.
Since joining the Department of Education, I have visited many schools and have been inspired by conversations with students, teachers, principals and parents about the great work that goes on in our schools every single day. At these school visits I’m seeing what makes an effective school leader and how a strong school culture can contribute to learning. And if we want to build on the historic progress already made with this administration we need to put the strongest teachers we can in every classroom and the best principals that we can in every school. We need to support these dedicated leaders so that they can provide each and every child with the best possible education.
As chancellor I’m dedicated to the mission that our students must have a rigorous core curriculum that truly prepares them not only for college and careers but for the opportunities of the 21st Century. I will focus on building a comprehensive evaluation system that will support and develop our teachers so that every child has a teacher who is constantly challenging him or herself to get better every day. I will continue to find ways of empowering our principals so they can run innovative exciting schools that are helping students thrive while also holding them accountable for results. As chancellor I will constantly be asking myself this question: are we providing the best most comprehensive supports that we can in our schools. That’s what drives me day in and day out.
The school visits have also reminded me of the real challenges that we have ahead. If we are going to prepare our kids to succeed in this increasingly competitive world we need to continue to raise standards and expectations.
Last year the state set a higher bar for passing English and math exams and we applaud them for it. Now we will have to redouble our efforts to help our kids meet that higher bar. That’s why just yesterday it was announced by our mayor that extra resources, a total of ten million dollars for schools where students are struggling on the state test. We know that we need to help those who need it most.
And I’m hopeful that we’ll find a way to get schools extra state school support.
Lastly, I want to briefly mention some of the educational priorities that Our Mayor, Mayor Bloomberg, laid out this morning in his State of the City address.
First, as we face enormous budget challenges and the harsh possibility of teacher layoffs there is no way that we can afford to loose our brightest teachers. We need to change the last-in-first-out policy so we are keeping our best teachers above all regardless of how long they have been in the system. We also must have a -come to a compromise on the ART pool, some one thousand teachers who receive full salaries and benefits without having positions in classrooms. Finally a large part of our future deficit problem is a pension problem. The mayor laid out a strong vision of reforming our city’s pension system and I urge all of you to watch or read his full speech on nyc.gov.
These priorities will help up build on the enormous progress we have already made for the children in our New York City schools. First and foremost we must think of our children first.
Thank you for coming tonight.
For the students at Kent School: horses, tennis and study abroad. For the students of the New York City public schools: more standardized tests with extra test prep.
Cathie Black’s daughter Allison put it best:
One cannot lead a flock one is not united with.