Harvard Women's Principal Graduation Ceremony Inspirational Speech: Career Choice and Happiness

Harvard Women's Principal Graduation Ceremony Inspirational Speech: Career Choice and Happiness

Speech at the graduation ceremony of the 2008 university department
In the curious custom of this venerable institution, I find myself standing before you expected to impart words of lasting wisdom. Here I am in a pulpit, dressed like a Puritan minister — an apparition that would have horrified many of my distinguished forebears and perhaps rededicated Some of them to the extirpation of witches. This moment would have propelled Increase and Cotton into a true "Mather lather." But here I am and there you and and it is the moment of and for Veritas.
At the unique ceremony of this prestigious university, I stood before you and was expected to give some remarks with lasting wisdom. Standing on this pulpit, I dressed like a Puritan sect, a monster that might scare my outstanding predecessors, and perhaps some of them would recommit themselves to eradicating the witch's career. This moment may have inspired many Puritans to become teachers. But now, I am above, you are below, at this moment, belongs to the truth, for the truth.
You have been under president for not quite one. You have known three presidents; I one senior class. Where then lies the voice of experience? Maybe you should be offering the wisdom. Perhaps our roles could be reversed And I could, in Harvard Law School style, do cold calls for the next hour or so.
You have been a college student for four years at Harvard, and I have been a Harvard principal for less than a year. You have met three principals, and I only know your senior. How do I qualify for what experience? Perhaps it is up to you to show your wisdom. Or do we change positions? Then I can, like the students at Harvard Law School, raise questions from time to time in the next hour.
I I have learned that we have not provided you with dinner since May 22. I know we need to wean you from Harvard in a figurative sense. I Never knew we took it quite so literally.
Schools and students seem to be trying to get time to this moment, and it's almost the same pace. I only learned that these two days ago, Harvard will not provide you with a meal from May 22nd. Although there is a metaphor that "we have to wean you sooner or later", but I did not expect that our logistics has really broken the "milk" early.
But let's return to that notion of cold calls for a moment. Let's imagine this were a baccalaureate service in the form of Q & A, and you were asked the questions. "What is the meaning of life, President Faust? What were these four Years at Harvard for? President Faust, you must have something else since you graduated from college exactly 40 years ago?”
Let us now return to the question I mentioned just now. Let us imagine that this is a graduation service for Harvard University to university students, in the form of a question and answer. You will ask questions, such as: "President Fu, what is the value of life? What are we going to do for four years at this university? President Fu, you must have learned something in your 40 years of college graduation. Teach us?"
In a way, you have been engaging me in this Q & A for the past year. On just these questions, although you have phrased them a bit more narrowly. And I have been trying to figure out how I might answer and, perhaps more Intriguingly, why you were asking.
In a way, you have been asking me to do this question and answer in the past year. From these issues alone, even if you are arguing in a narrow sense, and I think about how to make an answer, it is what inspires me to think about why you ask these questions.
Let me explain. It actually began when I met with the UC just after my appointment was announced in the winter of 2007. Then the questions continued when I had lunch at Kirkland House, dinner at Leverett, when I met with students in my office hours , the first thing you asked me about wasn't the curriculum or advising or faculty contact or even student space. In fact, it wasn't even alcohol policy. Instead, you repeatedly asked me: Why are so many of us going to Wall Street? Why are we going in such numbers from Harvard to finance, consulting, i-banking?
Listen to me. Questioning Since the winter of 2007, when my appointment was announced, the meeting with the school began. Then the questions continued, whether I had lunch at Kirkland House or dinner at Leverett House, or when I met with students during office hours, or even in a conversation with a graduate student I met abroad. The first question you ask is not about the coursework, not asking me for advice, not to contact the instructor, or even to give me advice. In fact, it is not to discuss alcohol policy with me. On the contrary, what you are tired of asking is: Why are so many of us going to Wall Street? Why are a large number of students from Harvard going to finance, financial consulting, investment banking?
There are a number of ways to think about this question and how to answer it. There may be that Willie Sutton approach. You may know that when he was asked why he robbed banks, he replied, "Because that's where the money is." Professors Claudia Goldin and Larry Katz, whom many of you have encountered in their economics concentration, offer a not dissimilar answer based on their study of student career choices since the seventies. They find it notable that, given the very high pecuniary rewards in finance, many Indeed, 37 of you have signed on with Teach for America; one of you will dance tango and work in dance therapy in Argentina; another will be engaged in agricultural development in Kenya; another, with an Honors degree in math, will study poetry; another will train as a pilot with the USAF; another will work to combat breast cancer. Numbers of you will go to law school, medical school, and graduate school. But, consistent with The pattern Goldin and Katz have documented, a considerable number of you are selecting finance and consulting. The Crimson's survey of last year's class reported that 58 percent of men and 43 percent of women entering the workforce made this choice. This year, even in challenging Economic times, the figure is 39 percent.
There are many ways to think and answer this question. One explanation is that, as Willie Sutton said, everything goes to "money." Claudia Goldin and Larry Katz, general economics professors that many of you have seen, have responded almost unequivocally based on research into the career choices of students since the 1970s. They found a noteworthy point: even if the financial industry can get a high return on money, many students still choose to do other things. In fact, 37 of you signed up to “Educate Americans”; one will go to dance tango and perform dance therapy in Argentina; one will be dedicated to the agricultural development of Kenya; another one will receive the honor of mathematics The degree, but turned to study poetry; one will go to the US Air Force to receive pilot training; and one will join the fight against breast cancer. Many of you will go to law school, medical school or graduate school. However, as evidenced by Professor Goldin and Professor Katz, a significant number of you will choose financial and financial advice. Crimson's survey of the previous students showed that 58% of the students and 43% of the students who worked were made this choice. This year, even in the economically challenging year, this information is 39%.
High salaries, the all but irresistible recruiting juggernaut, the reassurance for many of you that you will be in New York working and living and enjoying life alongside your friends, the promise of interesting work — there are lots of ways to explain these choices. Some of you, it is a commitment for only a year or two in any case. Others believe they will best be able to do good by first doing well. Yet, you ask me why you are following this path.
Maybe for high-paying – hard-to-resist hiring temptations, perhaps to stay in New York and then work and enjoy life with friends, perhaps to do the work that interests you – there are various reasons for these choices. . For some of you, in any case, it is only a one-year contract. Others believe that they will only be able to live a "rich" value after they have been "rich". However, you will still ask me why you should follow this path?
I find myself in some ways less interested in answering your question than in figuring out why you are posing it. If Professors Goldin and Katz have it right; if finance is indeed the “rational choice,” why do you keep raising this issue with me What does this seemingly rational choice strike a number of you as not understandable, as not entirely rational, as in some sense less a free choice than a compulsion or necessity? Why does this seem to be troubling so many of you?
I find that I sometimes don't have much interest in answering your questions. What's more interesting is to figure out why you mentioned those questions. If it is true, as Professor Goldin and Katz said; if going to finance is indeed a "rational" choice, why do you keep asking me such questions? Why do seemingly rational choices make a considerable part of you think that it is puzzling, pseudo-rational, or a choice that is not freely chosen for some kind of demand and coercion? Why does this problem seem to plague many of you?
You are asking me, I think, about the meaning of life, although you have posed your question in code — in terms of the observable and measurable phenomenon of senior career choice rather than the abstract, unfathomable and almost embarrassing realm of metaphysics. Of Life — capital M, capital L — is a cliché — easier to deal with as the ironic title of a Monty Python movie or the subject of a Simpsons episode than as a matter about which one would dare admit to harboring serious concern.
I think, what you ask me is: the question about the value of life. Although you ask more concealed—that is, the question of the career choices of seniors that can be observed and measured, rather than the abstract, embarrassing, and even embarrassing metaphysical issues. Life value, life? Still worth? The ironic title of the film as Monty Python is not difficult to understand. The theme of one of the "Simpsons" is not difficult to understand, but when it comes to "survival problems," it is not so good. I have done it.
But let's for a moment abandon our Harvard savoir faire, our imperturbability, our pretense of invulnerability, and try to find the beginnings of some answers to your question.
Let us take off the Harvard mask that we wore, take away the indifference that lacks enthusiasm, and unload the disguise that we seem to be invulnerable. Let us try to find the answers to some of the questions you asked.
I think you are worried because you want your lives not just to be conventionally successful, but to be meaningful, and you are not sure how those two goals fit together. You are not sure if a generous starting salary at a prestigious brand name organizations together With the promise of future wealth will feed your soul.
I feel that you are worried because you don't want to be only successful in the traditional sense, but also to live worthwhile. However, you don't know how "fish" and "bear paw" can "gain". You don't know if a company with a famous brand offers a considerable amount of money and expects the starting salary of your future wealth, so that your soul can be satisfied.
We have told you from the moment you arrived here that you will be the leaders responsible for the future, that you are the best and the brightest on whom we will all depend, that you will And you have already done things to fulfill them: your dedication to service demonstrate in your extracurricular engagements, your concern about the future of the planet expressed in your prosperity championing of sustainability, Your reinvigoration of American politics through engagement in this year's presidential contests.
However, why are you worried? This is partly our responsibility. As soon as you step into this school, we will tell you: You will become the backbone of the future, you will become the top and most outstanding elite that the American people depend on, and you will change the whole world. Our expectation of "seeking the child into a dragon" puts a burden on you. And you have done a good job to achieve these expectations: in the work of extracurricular activities, you show dedication to service work; from the enthusiasm for sustainable development, you express your concern for the planet; Through the participation in this year's presidential campaign, you have made practical actions to revitalize American politics.
But many of you are now wondering how these commitments fit with a career choice. Is it necessary to decide between remunerative work and meaningful work? If it were to be either/or, which would you choose? Is there a way to have both?
But many of you will now ask, “How can you combine these valuable things with a career choice?” “Do you have to work in a rewarding but worthless job and have a valuable but unpaid Do you have a choice in the workplace?" "If it is a multiple choice question, which one would you choose?" "Is there a compromise?"
You are asking me and yourselves fundamental questions about values, about trying to reconcile potentially competing goods, about recognizing that it may not be possible to have it all. You are at a moment of transition that requires making choices. And selecting one option — a Job, a career, a graduate program — means not selecting others. Every decision to lose as well as gain — possibilities for me is partly embraced. Your question to me is partly about that — about loss of roads not taken.
You are asking me and asking yourself questions, that is, fundamental questions about values. You are trying to mediate the potential competition between the two commodities, acknowledging that it may not be possible to have both. You are experiencing a turning point in life, and this turning point requires you to make some decisions yourself. Choosing a path—a job, a career, or a graduate student—is not just about choosing something. Every decision means “getting” and “missing” – the possibilities of the past and the future. The question you ask me is actually a bit about "missing", that is, the road you gave up makes you lose something.
Finance, Wall Street, “recruiting” have become the symbol of this dilemma, representing a set of issues that is much broader and deeper than just one career path. These are issues that in one way or another will at some point face you all — As you graduate from medical school and choose a specialty — family practice or dermatology, as you decide whether to use your law degree to work for a corporate firm or as a public defender, as you decide whether to stay in teaching after your two years with TFA. You are worried because you want to have both a meaningful life and a successful one; you know you were educated to make a difference not just for yourself, for your own comfort and satisfaction, but for the world around you. And now you Have to figure out the way to make that possible.
Finance, Wall Street, the word "recruitment" has become the symbol of this game, representing a series of problems that are broader and deeper than just choosing a career path. These questions will sooner or later face each of you - if you graduate from medical school, you will choose a specific medical direction - do a private doctor or specialize in skin diseases, if you are studying the law, you will decide to use you The legal knowledge is to sell a company legal person or become a justice incarnation of the public, or two years after "Educating Americans" you decide whether to continue to teach. The reason why you are worried is because you want to have a life that is full of value and a success. You know that you are educated to have a big role, not just for the sake of the individual, but for the comfort of your life, but to let the surrounding The world has changed as a result. So you have to think about how you can make it possible.
I think there is a second reason you are worried — related to but not exactly distinct from the first. You want to be happy. You have flocked to courses like “Positive Psychology” — Psych 1504 — and “The Science of Happiness” in search I can offer one encouraging answer: get older. Turns out that survey data show older people — that is, my age — report themselves happier than do younger ones. But maybe you don't want To wait.
I think that you are worried about the second reason - it is related to the first one but not exactly the same. You hope to live happily. You flocked to the course of "positive psychology" - the course code "Heart 1504" - and the "Science of Happiness" course, not just to listen to life "tips"? However, how can we get happiness? Here, I can provide an inspiring answer: getting older. The survey shows that older people—that is, my older people—feel that they are happier than younger people. However, it is likely that no one is willing to wait to see this answer.
I have listened to you talk about the choices ahead of you, I have heard you articulate your worries about the relationship of success and happiness — perhaps, more accurately, how to define success so that it yields and encompasses real happiness, not just money and The most remunerative choice, you fear, may not be the most meaningful and the most satisfying. But you wonder how you would ever survive as an artist or an actor or a public servant or a high school teacher? How would you ever figure Out a path by which to make your way in journalism? Would you ever find a job as an English professor after you finished who knows how many years of graduate school and dissertation writing?
During the chat, I heard you talk about the choices you are currently facing. I heard you say your words and concerns about the relationship between success and happiness - perhaps, more precisely, how to define success to make it Have or contain true happiness, not just money and honor. You are afraid that the most rewarding choices may not be the most valuable and satisfying choice. But you are also worried, if you are an artist or an actor, a public servant or a middle school teacher, how can you survive? However, you have thought about it. If your dream is journalism, how can you come up with a path to your dreams? Don't you read a lot of years of research, and I don't know how many graduation thesis finally graduated, looking for an English professor's job?
The answer is: you won't know till you try. But if you don't try to do what you love — whether it is painting or biology or finance; if you don't pursue what you think will be most meaningful, you Will regret it. Life is long. There is always time for Plan B. But don't begin with it.
The answer is: you will never know if you don't try. But if you don't try to do what you love, whether it's mud or biology or finance, if you don't even pursue what you think is the most valuable thing, you will regret it. The road to life is long, you always have time to leave a "back road" for yourself, but don't start the "back road" at the beginning.
I think of this as my parking space theory of career choice, and I have been sharing it with students for decades. Don't park 20 blocks from your destination because you think you'll never find a space. Go where you want to be And then circle back to where you have to be.
I call this my "parking" theory of career choices. For decades I have been "selling" my theory to students. Don't park your car at 20 intersections from your destination because you are afraid of finding a parking spot at your destination. Go directly to where you want to go, even if you wander around again, the place you stop temporarily is just where you are forced to stop.
Or might you just be for the senior I met at lunch at Kirkland who had just returned from an interview on the West Coast with a prestigious consulting firm. It is hard to be happy if you spend more than half your waking hours doing something You don't.
You may like to do investment banking, or do financial or financial consulting. It may be right for you. That may be really for you. Maybe you will be like the senior student I met at Kirkland House, she just returned from an interview with a famous financial consulting company on the West Coast of the United States. “Why do I have to do this?” she said. “I hate flying, I hate living in a hotel, I don’t like this job.” Find the job you love. If you spend more than half of your day's waking hours doing things you don't like, it's hard to feel happy.
But what is the current most important here is that you are asking the question — You just choosing roads and at the same time challenging your own choices. You have a notion of what you want your life to be and You are not sure the road you are taking is going to get you there. This is the best news. And it is also, I hope, to some degree, our fault. Noticing your life, reflecting upon it, considering how you can live It well, wondering how you can do good: These are perhaps the most valuable things that a liberal arts education has equipped you to do. A liberal education demands that you live self-consciously. It prepares you to seek and define the meaning inherent in It has made you an analyst and critic of yourself, a person in this way supremely equipped to take charge of your life and how it unfolds. It is in this sense that the liberal arts are liberal — as in liberare — to Free. They empower you with the possibility of exercisin g agency, of discovering meaning, of making choices. The surest way to have a meaningful, happy life is to commit yourself to striving for it. Don't settle. Be prepared to change routes. Remember the impossible expectations we have of you, And even as you recognize they are impossible, remember how important they are as a lodestar guiding you towards something that matters to you and to the world. The meaning of your life is for you to make.
But the most important thing I said here is: You are asking those questions - not just asking me, but asking yourself. You are choosing the path of life and are also questioning your choices. You know what kind of life you have thought about, and you know that the road you will walk will not necessarily bring you to where you want to go. This is actually very good. In a way, I hope that this is our fault. We have been flaunting life, mirroring the future of you like a mirror, thinking about how you can live happily, and exploring how you can do something that is valuable to society: these may be that liberal arts education can "equip" you. The most valuable thing. Liberal arts education requires you to live "understand". It allows you to explore and define the value behind everything you do. It makes you a person who constantly analyzes and reflects on yourself. And such people are fully capable of controlling their own lives or future. From this point of view, the liberal arts - according to its literal meaning - will make you free. Learning the arts and sciences gives you the opportunity to practice the theory and discover the value of the choices you make. The most reliable way to think about a worthwhile, happy life is to fight for your goals. Don't settle for the status quo. Always ready to change the way of life. Remember that we are expecting you to be "too noble", and you may admit that those expectations are a bit "too high." But if you want to do something that is a little valuable to you or the world, remember them and they will guide you like Beidou. The value of your life will be realized by you!
I can't wait to see how you all turn out. Do come back, from time to time, and let us know.
I can't wait to see how you will end up. After graduating, I will contact the school often and often go back to the "home" to let us know about your situation.