J.K. Rowling gave a commencement speech at Harvard University this past Thursday, a speech which – like many commencement speeches – attempts to arm graduates with the only thing they cannot learn in a classroom.
For not even at Harvard is there is a degree in Life Experience.
She addressed following your own path, taking responsibility for your choices, and learning from failure. You know…what life is really about.
She shared her personal story,
I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.
and what she had learned,
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged.
In a scant 20 minutes, she gave them the ultimate primer on how to really live your life. She gave them TRUTH with a capital T, and were the most educated students in America thankful? You bet your shorts they weren’t.
“I think we could have done better,” shrugged computer science major Kevin Bombino. He says Rowling lacks the gravitas a Harvard commencement speaker should have.
“You know, we’re Harvard. We’re like the most prominent national institution. And I think we should be entitled to … we should be able to get anyone. And in my opinion, we’re settling here. “
Done better than someone who accomplished their dream and impacted the lives of over a billion?
“It’s definitely the ‘A’ list, and I wouldn’t ever associate J.K. Rowling with the people on that list,” says senior Andy Vaz. “From the moment we walk through the gates of Harvard Yard, they constantly emphasize that we are the leaders of tomorrow. They should have picked a leader to speak at commencement. Not a children’s writer. What does that say to the class of 2008? Are we the joke class?”
I guess no one in English 101 let Andy in on the fact that most ‘classics’ were originally children’s literature. Ah, the self-importance of youth. How well I miss thee. Fortunately, Harvard grads do, like a fine wine, get better with age.
“They’ll grow up,” says 1983 graduate David Epstein. “They’ll have a broader worldview and they’ll understand that there are many, many ways to contribute. You know what they say — the freshman bring so much, and the seniors take away so little.”
It’s seems commencement speeches are wasted on the ‘commencees’.
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June 9, 2008 at 5:40 pm
thedailydish
This post just hits home how over-inflated egos match the over-inflated tuition at many Ivy League institutions. Save your money folks. You can get a damn fine education at any university. Just use the resources at your disposal.
hayden tompkins says:
I just couldn’t believe how absolutely short-sighted these kids were. If it wasn’t a ‘head of state’, they weren’t interested. I hope NPR does a follow-up in 20 years.
June 9, 2008 at 10:42 pm
SanityFound
Wow! I actually feel sorry for these kids I mean can you just imagine how unfulfilled and unsatisfying their lives are and are going to be, how very sad and yet they have no one to blame but themselves at the end of the day. Hey, I’d rather be uneducated and have a meaningful life than a fake shell of unhappiness and unattainable want…
hayden tompkins says:
I took a look at Kevin’s online information (with the younger kids, everything’s online) and he seems just as…well. Let’s just say what he said doesn’t look like it’s out of character.
June 11, 2008 at 5:25 am
dreemwhrld
wow. i would have been honored if she’d spoken at my graduation. how… pompous.
hayden tompkins says:
The fact that is, what she had to say was so important that it could have been delivered by a hobo without diluting the truth of it. When they dismiss her because of her lack of gravitas – credentials – they are dismissing what she has to say.
I can only hope that someday they’ll realize that you don’t have to be a Ph.D. or an ivy league graduate to speak the truth, or have something important to say and contribute.
June 14, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Phew is it another one? « SanityFound’s Rambling’s
[...] I had my eyes opened by Persistent Illusion this week with the students at Harvard, I myself think JK Rowling is inspiring, clever, funny and wise so what if she isn’t a [...]
June 17, 2008 at 12:51 am
George Ellwell
No need to lionize Rowling. She’s done well, and she speaks plainly about it. And she’s an engaging young people’s writer.
And yes, those Harvard types sniffle after getting a kid’s book writer instead of a head of state (boo-hoo). But they have a point too. Harvard can get anyone they want–pretty much. So these kids were disputing the choice. That’s their call.
If this was Sam Houston State University kids sniffling, it would have seemed far more ridiculous.
But the bloom is off Rowling’s rose after the debacle of her lawsuit against Stephen Vander Ark and his lexicon. To judge a person, you judge her against the context of _all_ her actions.
hayden tompkins says:
Though she actually was only suing the publisher, your point is taken. However, I can appreciate how someone who created a rich and complex universe feels that the universe ‘belongs’ to them in some respect. As someone who comes from a family of artists, I can tell you that the viewpoint isn’t necessarily specific to her. And I can’t help but wonder if she were Disney, whether the ruling would have been more favorable.
June 17, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Mayra
Hayden, you picked up on something that not many people are able to see, which is that all Wisdom precedes Wonder or the desire to learn by questioning everything with humility rather than arrogance. When you can’t see the light in others you begin to consider yourself superior attributing power to things like your profession, your education, your assets and every other material thing you can think of. When you view life from that lense you stop learning and by necessity wisdom escapes you. If nature abhors extremes, wisdom abhors arrogance and superiority.
Wisdom is not in a book or teacher for that matter. Anything taught to you is information that becomes knowledge. Wisdom comes from in the depths of your own mind and unless you remain child like it remains inaccessible to you. One who understands this can appreciate how someone like Rawlings from an average and even impoverished background was able to tap the wisdom of her own mind and touch the lives of millions of people by sharing her gift. Some would say that she found her life purpose.
However, the people the article is referring to are young people who are yet to face to real world, so we can’t criticize them for their point of views. I believe that we all let our egos take charge of our lives at some point until we learn. Life is no respecter of persons, they will learn, and when the time comes they will have Rawlings as a point of reference.
hayden tompkins says:
You are so right about everyone dealing with their own egos at some point or another. Your last paragraph is a perfect example of wisdom through living.
I guess that, since it was Harvard, I was holding those graduates to a higher standard. (Training the ‘leaders of tomorrow’ should include a course on Humility 101!) But in all seriousness, this just seemed like another example of rampant entitlement from people of ‘my’ generation.
June 23, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Oldeffer
“It’s definitely the ‘A’ list, and I wouldn’t ever associate J.K. Rowling with the people on that list,” says senior Andy Vaz. “From the moment we walk through the gates of Harvard Yard, they constantly emphasize that we are the leaders of tomorrow. They should have picked a leader to speak at commencement. Not a children’s writer. What does that say to the class of 2008? Are we the joke class?”
“I think we could have done better,” shrugged computer science major Kevin Bombino.”
“You know, we’re Harvard. We’re like the most prominent national institution. And I think we should be entitled to … we should be able to get anyone. And in my opinion, we’re settling here. ”
Snape smiled as he got out of his chair – he had taught them well. He said, “Come. I have a place you need to go.” He waved his wand, the room went dark but not before Harry, who was hiding in the alcove, saw where they were heading. Harry knew about this place and the spell that had been placed there.
Hermione joined him and looked around the dark room, “Where’s Bombino?”
Harry muttered, “I don’t know Hermione; last time I saw him, Snape was leading him and Vaz into the Columns Of Morgagni.
hayden tompkins says:
!!!!!!!
Hysterical.
June 27, 2008 at 1:36 am
Esposito
When I was younger and less experienced, slightly influenced by my upbringing environment, I thought about going to Harvard. However, along the road, I got to know well many people who attended Ivy League schools such as Harvard and my opinion of students has been going through a realistic assessment to point down hill. Those Harvard students, they generally have highly inflated ego and disproportional sense of entitlement. Their actual capability is not nearly as much as they like to credit themselves to be.
Most people who go there come off a smooth academic path from well off families and are very out of touch of reality. It’s not hard to find very manipulative students who try to take advantage of others at every opportunity to advance their own interests. This type of winner-takes-all mentality will not suit them well in the real world where the relationships are far more complicated.
That’s where the real world await them once they come out the elitist academic cocoon and it will be a bruising experience at first.
hayden tompkins says:
Well, I will admit that I know many people who have gone to Harvard, but I don’t know many people who went to Harvard. Does that make sense at all? Anyway, I can hope that they rest are like my amazing friends, however, I suspect that what you say is true. Life has an interesting way of letting most people know who’s really in charge!
July 31, 2008 at 4:44 am
David
Might I venture to say that wisdom is often most appreciated by those who have lived. As 22 year-olds on the brink of “real life,” as many of you have put it, some of those seniors may be able to rationalize but not yet understanding the truth of Rowling’s words. In fact, this may be true of students at any university, and quite possibly, many of us who are well past those years. We should not fault them for their youth. Heck, I am still learning new things everyday.
Having attended that speech in person though, and the commencement the year before, I would say there are a great number of students who did very much resonate with the words shared. It is unfortunate those interviews could not have surveyed their opinions as well.
hayden tompkins says:
The news organizations just can’t help themselves, can they?! I think what bothered me the most about the whole thing was how elitist these kids sounded. It is one thing to take pride in your accomplishments but to think you are ‘better’ because you’ve gone to Harvard is another story entirely.