College Relations

CONTACT --- Cyndi McMahon at 978-542-7500 or c_mcmahon@salemstate.edu

Salem State College Convocation Address
Mary E. Farrell
October 7, 2002

President Harrington, Vice President Lapkin, Dean Shea, Professors MacIver and Matchak, Trustees Zykofsky and Newcomb, Ms. Lepore, colleagues, family, friends, and students, I am very grateful for the opportunity to address this convocation today.

In reflecting on the topic for today's comments, I was struck by the events that have occurred in our lives since the last convocation which was held on September 10^th of last year, the day before the world changed so significantly for so many of us.

Fritz Capra in The Tao of Physics written over 25 years ago, drew connections between modern physics and eastern mysticism. He discussed the interconnectedness of all of us. For Capra, all events perceived by the senses are interrelated and merely different manifestations of the same reality. He spoke of the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction, the daily rhythms of birth and death and patterns emerging in a dynamic and ever changing world.

Probably nothing in recent memory has connected us as a people and as a nation more than the tragic events of that beautiful September morning just over one year ago. We are not the same as we were on September 10^th 2001, we are all changed in some way. In the year since this tragic day we have witnessed the resiliency of a people and the emergence of everyday heroes among us.

One wonders at the resiliency of people affected by tragedy. How do they manage to move through it the way most do? Martha Rogers, the nursing theorist on whom our School of Nursing's curriculum is based, shared a belief in many of the tenets espoused by Capra. She spoke of a world where change is constant and felt that humans are always moving forward toward increasing complexity and diversity. She used the model of a slinky to illustrate this concept. Even if the slinky is knotted and twisted a finger following the wire works forward through the twists and knots traveling in only one direction. The twists and knots represent the challenges life places before us. Somehow we move through them, maybe becoming ensnared for a time, but finally progressing beyond the struggle.

Living in a world of constant change, dealing with pain and loss, striving to achieve a difficult goal are challenges that each of us faces at one time or another. What pushes us to go on? What helps us to move through the demanding times? I believe that the recurring rhythms and rituals of our lives help in this process. They give us comfort in their repeating patterns; they help us feel secure in the knowledge that some things stay the same, that some things are predictable. They help us deal with change and loss, they help us focus on our goals and they move us forward. Each September in an academic community we experience many recurring patterns, the camaraderie of opening day, faces in classrooms, the smell of new books, the colors of fall, the feel of crisp autumn days, and gathering together at events such as this academic convocation. Such experiences excite, comfort, challenge and connect us in ways that are so familiar that, unfortunately, they become backdrop and we are not even aware of their gift.

The relationship between students and faculty in institutions of learning is another one of the recurring rhythms of the academic year. My friend & colleague Kathleen Skrabut speaks of us as the community of scholars - administrators, faculty and students working together and helping each other toward the achievement of many goals. How fortunate we are to be in such a setting, to be in each other's presence, to share ideas, to debate issues, to learn and grow through our association with one another. Personally, I have learned best how to teach from the students I have encountered over the years. Our education, faculty and student alike, is never finished and our educational goals are never achieved alone.

Each of us assumes many and varied roles in our lives. At different times and under different circumstances we are student, teacher, employee, partner, spouse, parent, child, sibling, friend. For many years I have assumed the role of teacher here and for many years that of student at the University of Rhode Island, so many years in fact that I was in contention for the title of longest living doctoral student. As our seniors at Salem State graduated in a monsoon last May, I was graduating in the same monsoon in Rhode Island. Often through the last few years I didn't really believe it would happen. Some of you may have had similar experiences. I was hopeful that I could achieve the goal prior to taking up residence in a nursing home but I was not really sure that that would happen. I never would have made it except for the love and support over the years of my family, friends and colleagues at Salem State and Union Hospital and the wonderful faculty at URI. Their acts of kindness and caring helped carry me to the goal.

While looking back on the long road to my doctorate at URI and in planning my remarks for today, a number of words about achieving goals came to mind. So many, in fact, that I can comfortably say that the next piece of this address will be brought to you by the letter "P"

The first is persistence - I'm living proof that anyone can do it if you don't give up!

The next is process - life and learning are processes, we are all students, it takes time to reach a goal.

Be patient with yourselves, don't rush to the finish line, remember the joy is in the journey.

Pursue your passion - we spend a great deal of our lives at work - choose something you love. I have been so fortunate to be involved in both of my passions, teaching here at Salem and practicing staff nursing per diem at Union Hospital in Lynn.

Prodding sometimes the prodder sometimes the prodded - I will be forever grateful to the Associate Dean at URI who finally said enough - finish or else - this prodding led me to panic, pleading and praying and finally a one semester reprieve. This experience forced me to prioritize or give up the goal. As difficult as this was I would not be finished now without her prodding.

And Finally - Aim for the product - keep the goal in sight; don't ever give up, you can do it.

I would like to close with one of those ubiquitous e-mails sent by friends that struck a cord with me - it speaks to focusing on what is important in life - perhaps you've heard it but I feel that it bears repeating

A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it right to the top with rocks about 2" in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them in to the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

The students laughed.

He asked his students again if the jar was full.

They agreed that yes, it was.

The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.

Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

"Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this is your life.

The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children anything that is so important to you that if it were lost, you would be nearly destroyed.

The pebbles are the other things in life that matter, but on a smaller scale. The pebbles represent things like your job, your house, your car.

The sand is everything else. The small stuff.

If you put the sand or the pebbles into the jar first, there is no room for the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff, material things, you will never have room for the things that are truly most important.

Pay attention to the things that are critical in your life. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing.

There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal."

Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just pebbles and sand.

May all of us focus on the rocks in our lives first and may we enjoy a wonderful and successful academic year until we meet again, thank you.