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Open Forum
2005 Convocation Address, Professor Susan Pinsker
Honored students, faculty, staff, and guests:
It is truly an honor to be chosen to give the Convocation
address. You, the students we have come to honor today, have attained
the highest level of academic achievement at Berkshire Community
College. Your accomplishments have required energy, time, organization,
commitment, and for some of you, hopefully not blood, but plenty
of sweat and tears. You have made your families proud, earned the
respect of your peers, and, I can assure you, given your professors
great “nachas” (that’s Yiddish for “a very
deep feeling of satisfaction.”) On behalf of my colleagues,
I thank you for that!
So where will this hard work and learning take you?
Ideally to a great life, including a great career, where you will
get to do what you enjoy, do it well, and get paid well for it.
But I hope that you will not stop there. Wherever your life’s
journey takes you, I hope that you will bring with you a sense of
a larger purpose, a commitment to make whatever contribution you
can to the betterment of this world. Because, I hope that you will
agree with me, a life of personal fulfillment is not enough. We
each have a responsibility to leave the world a better place than
it was when we got here. I bet everyone in this room can come up
with a list of things they would like to see changed. In fact, I’ll
pause for a moment to let you consider some of the changes you would
like to see made.
So here is my point. How are these changes to come
about? Who is going to do the hard work? Too often we feel helpless
to affect change. “What can one person do?” Or worse,
we feel apathy. “What difference does it make? Why bother
trying?” But it DOES make a difference; one person CAN change
the world. Any one of us in this room can change the world. In fact,
I know some of us already have, or are in the process of changing
it, perhaps without even realizing it.
OK, now you’re probably wondering “where
is she coming from with this stuff?” Let me lay some theoretical
groundwork for my point. Many of you may be familiar with systems
theory. For those of you who are not, it is a theory that posits
that a system is a group of components that operate interdependently
towards a common goal or function, such that a change in any one
of these components will cause compensatory changes in all of the
other components. Your body is a system: organs working together
to keep you alive and operating at an optimum level. When one organ
falters, it puts a strain on all the other organs. Your family is
a system. When one member has a problem (physical, psychological,
financial) it affects all the other members.
The recently deceased developmental psychologist Urie
Bronfenbrenner, co-founder of the federal Head Start program, talked
about ecological systems that shape our development. Basically each
of us is a part of many different systems, or spheres of influence
and interaction. The most intimate system of which we are a part
is our family, but we are also part of our community, our school,
our workplace, our religious organization, and in a larger sense,
our socioeconomic system, our body politic, and our culture. This
expands out from the local level to the global. Each of these systems
influences our development, and I think most of us are very aware
of how these external forces have shaped our lives. In fact, for
the last 20 years or so, our culture has emphasized this view. Some
even claim that we have become a “society of victims*”,
avoiding taking personal responsibility for our actions by blaming
others: “My mother made me this way,” “Society
made me this way,” “The devil made me do it.”
And certainly all these forces have shaped our development. But
in emphasizing this aspect of how systems work, we may have lost
sight of the complementary aspect: we have also influenced all the
systems of which we are a part. Think about your family. Most of
us are very aware of how our parents and siblings influenced our
lives, but how many of us have paused to consider how we have influenced
their lives? How our conception and then birth (whether planned
or not) rocked our parents’ world? And it surely did not stop
at our birth! Anyone who has been a parent can appreciate this.
So what about the larger systems? Can we really influence
politics, education, health care, culture? Well, let me point out
some clear examples of people who have, people like us.
1. John Walsh: John was in the hotel management business
in 1981 when his son, Adam was abducted and murdered. John had no
background in Criminal Justice. He was not a lawyer or a politician,
yet he and his wife, Reve, committed themselves to changing the
way this country deals with missing children. Before they took action
police departments had no way to coordinate their search efforts
across state lines, there were no Amber alerts, and no America’s
Most Wanted.
2. Candy Lightner and Cindi Lamb: In 1980 these two
Moms joined forces to start Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Their
goal: to end the tragedy of lives lost to and maimed by drunken
drivers. They began a movement that has changed our legal system
and our cultural norms about drinking. Prior to the 1980’s,
the term “designated driver” had not entered our vocabulary.
Ads for alcoholic beverages were everywhere, and never mentioned
anything about “drinking responsibly.” Driving drunk
was considered by many a badge of honor: “I was so drunk last
night I took out three trees in my neighbor’s yard!”
Nobody really stopped to consider that it could have been three
young children.
3. Erin Brockovich: Many of you have seen the film,
based on her true story. Erin was a divorced mother of three children.
She had an Associate’s degree from a business college. She
became a file clerk at the law firm that was representing her in
an accident case. While working there she found medical records
indicating a major health crisis caused by toxic waste improperly
managed by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. As a result of
the direct action lawsuit she spearheaded, the utility paid the
largest toxic tort injury settlement in U.S. history: $333 million
in damages to more than 600 affected claimants.
John, Cindi, Candy, Erin: none of these people had
any special training or experience. What they had was a burning
need to change the way our world operates. And this gave them the
courage, the stamina and the perseverance to succeed.
Each one of us has the potential to make that kind
of change. Each one of us could apply that kind of courage, stamina
and perseverance to a cause. We just need to recognize that, as
members of a system, we participate in a reciprocity of influence:
we exert influence as well as receive it.
To the degree that we think of ourselves as “victims”
of the systems we inhabit, we will feel powerless and apathetic.
This will lead to inaction which perpetuates the status quo. “If
you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the
problem.” If on the other hand we recognize our power to affect
the systems we inhabit, we can muster the courage, stamina and perseverance
required to effect change.
Before I close I would like to share one last example
of how one person can make a change, even if only in a small way.
A number of years ago I was feeling pretty flush and decided I would
buy myself a coyote coat. I had started shopping around, and was
close to making the purchase when I happened to sit next to two
colleagues in the cafeteria who were talking about animal rights.
One was very active in People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA). She was describing to her colleague how, when coyotes were
caught in the typical leg trap, they would often chew off their
own leg to escape. Now this woman was not talking to me, and she
had no way of knowing about my lust for a coyote coat. It was pure
coincidence that I happened to drop in on this conversation. And
yet it changed my world – NO COYOTE COAT FOR ME! To this day
my PETA colleague probably has no idea of the effect her story had
on me, the unintended listener. Since then I have told this story
to others, and it may well have changed their lives, and now here
I am telling it to you. Each action is a ripple that spreads in
ways we can never predict.
So, in closing, I would like to urge you to own your
power to change the world. When you see things that don’t
make sense to you, challenge them. When you see injustice, speak
out against it. When you feel that something must be changed, work
to change it. Don’t wait for someone else to take the lead.
Don’t wait for a committee to take on the task. Ask yourself,
“What can I do to make things better?” And then DO IT!
If you lead, they may follow. If you don’t, for sure they
won’t!
What can one person do? The answer: Something, anything.
MAKE THAT CHANGE! And “MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU,” as
it most certainly is!
*Charles Sykes, A Nation of Victims, 1992
2005 Valedictory
Address, Casey Lynch
Chancellor Gill, Chairperson Lombard, faculty,
family, friends, and fellow graduates.
It was October of 1986. The Red Sox were playing
in game 6 of the World Series, one out away from winning their first
championship since 1918. The New York Mets hit a ground ball down
the first baseline. Considered a routine play, all the Red Sox first
baseman had to do was catch the ball and tag first base. However,
this was far from a routine play. Red Sox fans watched in shock
as the ball rolled through first baseman Bill Buckner’s legs.
Red Sox fans around the world were once again left heartbroken.
I vaguely remember that night, since I was only
2 ½ years old. But I do remember going out with my mom to
buy a pet parakeet. When we got home, the game had just ended. I
remember my dad being furious. I thought he was angry because we
had gotten a parakeet. But, he was actually angry about his team,
the Red Sox, losing. It wouldn’t be until years later, when
I became a Red Sox fan, that I would understand the disappointment
my dad felt that night. I had heard stories growing up about the
heartache I was sure to experience being a Red Sox fan. My head
was filled with tales of Babe Ruth’s curse and how the Red
Sox always seemed to find a way to ruin their chances of winning
a World Series title. Generations had come and gone wishing and
hoping for the Red Sox to break the so-called curse. Finally, in
2004, the Red Sox did indeed “reverse the curse” and
won the World Series.
I tell you this story of the Red Sox as perhaps
the ultimate example of never giving up. Many didn’t believe
that the Red Sox would ever win the World Series. But they did it.
If you had told me a year ago that the Red Sox would become World
Series champions, I would have laughed at you. I, like many others,
felt it was impossible for the Red Sox to win the World Series.
But it wasn’t impossible. Nothing’s impossible. My message
to you is to always keep trying.
Maybe many of you thought your dream of graduating
from BCC and getting a degree was impossible. Maybe others laughed
at you. But you didn’t give up. And here you are today about
to receive your diploma.
Defying the odds doesn’t just happen to million-dollar-salary
baseball players. Recently, a story came out of Florida about an
8-year-old girl who was kidnapped and buried alive. But in this
hopeless situation she never gave up and the policeman who found
her didn’t give up, and she was found alive. The idea here
is to never give up. Never think that something’s impossible.
There will be disappointments along the way, like when the ball
rolled through Bill Buckner’s legs. But, there will also be
successes, like when the final out of last year’s World Series
was made and the Red Sox came rushing out onto the field to celebrate.
The disappointments made the success much sweeter.
I will never forget the look on my dad’s
face when the Red Sox won. He has been let down by the Red Sox so
many times in the past. He, like many, felt it was impossible. But
the impossible happened. All of us here today can also make the
impossible happen if we try hard enough.
The two examples I just told you about are from
the national news, but there are stories right here too. There are
many of you here today who overcame your own obstacles. You all
have had your own challenges to face. I’m sure there were
times when it would have been easier to not get out of bed, or to
not go to class. But you did it. Your perseverance that brought
you here today will help you reach your goals in the future. As
I was writing this speech, a country song by Joe Nichols, titled
“The Impossible,” kept popping into my head. Though
I’m sure you all would love to hear me sing it, I don’t
want you to leave before you get your diplomas. So, instead, I am
going to say the words to the chorus of the song:
Unsinkable ships sink
Unbreakable walls break
Sometimes the things you think could never happen
Happen just like that
Unbendable steel bends
If the fury of the wind is unstoppable
I've learned to never underestimate
The impossible
At the risk of using a cliché, I’m
going to leave you with a quote that has withstood the test of time
and is worth being repeated. In his book Don Quixote, author Miguel
de Cervantes dares us to “Dream the impossible dream.”
Dream that dream. Challenge yourselves.
Good luck, graduates. Thank you.
2005 Salutatory Address,
Kathleen Waldheim
Chancellor Gill, Chairperson Lombard, faculty,
family, friends, and fellow graduates.
Good afternoon. I’ve been attending BCC
since 1995. Today, I feel as if I should be getting a pension along
with my diploma. Let me briefly share with you how this happened.
After high school, like many of my friends,
I went to work full time. Thoughts of college were tucked away and
forgotten. And like many of us, I married young and had two children,
Jack and Caitlyn. This time was the happiest of my life. I wrapped
myself in the safe cocoon of my family and home, convinced it was
all I had to have to be happy in this life. I was afraid to venture
very far, afraid to leave my safe place and my family. However,
as time went on, my large, rambling home in the Hinsdale woods became
lonely. I wanted more.
The idea of going to college had been on my
mind for a long time. But I had never been to college. What if I
couldn’t handle the coursework? I was old! But not too old,
I told myself. So twenty-four years after graduating from high school
I decided to enroll at BCC. I enrolled in the Liberal Arts program
and took the plunge. I signed up for Advanced Expository Writing
with Richard Nunley. I was the oldest student in the class, but
the other students never let on that they noticed. A few of the
younger students sort of “adopted” me and when we ended
up in the same class the next semester; they always saved me a seat
next to them. They’ll never know what their kindness meant
to me.
Well, Mr. Nunley gave us a lot of homework and
I found it challenging. At the end of the semester, my grade for
the class arrived in the mail at the post office. I remember being
afraid to open the envelope. I waited until
I got home and safely in the house so no one would see my disappointed
face. When I opened the envelope I saw my grade – an ‘A’!
I was so excited! And, I was hooked. I registered for the next semester
and planned my classes around my children’s schedules. I plodded
along taking one or two classes a semester.
As I look back, so many events happened during
my ten-year college career. My husband and I built a new home. My
children grew up and went to college themselves. But then a devastating
blow – my younger sister Marcia became ill with breast cancer.
During her illness she never stopped encouraging me to keep going
to school, always telling me how proud she was of me. She fought
so hard for six years and then we lost her to this horrible disease.
My worst fear occurred – I lost someone I loved so much. I
never knew such a brave and courageous woman as she. Her courage
inspired me then and continues to inspire me today. But again, BCC
was there for me, my rock and my challenge.
Two years ago, I found myself in Professor Tom
Tyning’s Conservation of Natural Resources class. I only took
the class because it was required to get my degree. One afternoon
I saw Tom’s slides of his Tropical Ecosystems class and their
trip to the Amazon rainforest in Peru, South America. Primitive
villages along the river, frogs, snakes, gigantic plants, and pink
dolphins! Wow! I’d like to see those things! As soon as the
thought went through my head, I squashed it. No way would I leave
home to go to a jungle in Peru. What about all those snakes? Why
would I leave my safe cocoon in Hinsdale and take a risk like that?
The answer seemed obvious – because you just don’t say
no to an opportunity like that, that’s why.
I wrestled with the idea all summer and into the fall. Everyone
was making plans, but the cowardly lion kept resisting. I told my
best friend, Debbie, “I’m afraid to fly, afraid of snakes,
afraid to leave the kids and home”. Finally she said, “Do
you realize how many times you’ve just said, “I’m
afraid?" Yikes! I’m afraid of being afraid! My kids spurred
me on. They told me to “Go for it, Mom!”, and my daughter
remarked on how awful I would feel the day everyone took off on
the plane if I wasn’t on it with them. I knew she was right,
and I decided to go. I was scared to death. Leaving my family, snakes,
flying--might as well tackle as those fears in one trip!
For a week I slept in the jungle with the snakes and spiders and
other scary rainforest creatures, all super sized compared to home.
As you may have guessed, my family survived without me and I came
back in one piece, alive!
Imagine that! Imagine what I could do next!
By taking that trip I gave myself permission to take risks and grow.
The lion and I had the courage in us all the time. The trip to Oz
was over. The cowardly lion was no more. When I returned home, my
sister Cheryl said, “Who are you anyway? The Kathy I know
wouldn’t be playing with snakes”. I said, “Maybe
you don’t know the real Kathy”. I had changed and it
was noticeable. I’m not so afraid of the snakes in my life
anymore. I now keep a cowardly lion ornament in my car to remind
me that I have to keep trying new things. I smile when I look at
it because I know I’ve come so far from where I was just a
few short years ago.
Michelangelo believed that when he sculpted
a piece of art, the sculpture already existed inside of the block
of marble. The stone was the covering that contained the work of
art; the sculptor only had to take away the part in excess. Fear
keeps us imprisoned inside a block.
Whether you are graduating as a 20-year-old traditional student,
or a 51-year-old grandmother, chisel away that rock, emerge from
the block of marble, and show the world the piece of art you were
meant to be. Free the work inside of you, and take risks, for it
is only by taking risks that we enjoy the rewards. The British author,
George Elliott, wrote, “It is never too late to be what you
might have been.” At 51 years old, the mother of two, and
the grandmother of an eleven-day-old baby girl, I am so happy I
didn’t think I was too old to go to college. I never would
have slept in the rainforest, and I would have missed out on knowing
some very special people.
The faculty and students at BCC are the sculptors
that helped me to chip away at and emerge from my marble cocoon.
Thank you, Berkshire Community College, for outstanding teachers,
unforgettable experiences, and priceless new friendships.
2005 Salutatory
Address, Ann-Marie Racine
Chancellor Gill, Chairperson Lombard, Faculty,
Fellow Graduates, Family, and Friends:
In this last year, I have used a four letter
word an awful lot! Yeah, I’ve used many four-letter words
an awful lot as I’m sure most of you have. But the four letter
word that I am talking about today is “hope.”
I watched a movie a couple of weeks ago. It
was about a man who lived in England, who was in despair over his
life. He had been jilted by his fiancé and was in a severe
depression. He decided to leave his country and move to a small
town in America, and he picked this town because of the name—Hope.
There in Hope, America, not only did he find a way to express himself
as the artist that he had always wanted to be, but he also found
a woman who would become his best friend, his companion and soul
mate.
I have come to know hope by joys and sorrows
that I have experienced, blessings that I have received, and people
whom I have come to truly know and understand. I, too, like the
guy from England, was in despair. I had lost my job of 18 years,
and, after helping to raise a man’s four children and support
him through college, I lost him to another woman two weeks after
he handed in his thesis. I had no idea what I was going to do with
my life. It was not easy for me to get out of bed in the morning.
I had no hope…or so I thought!
What was I going to do? I went to work right
out of high school and had never been to college. But I saw this
as my chance. This was my chance to get the college education that
I had always wanted. But, could I do this? Would I be able to concentrate?
Would I fit in with the younger students? Could I study? I was filled
with self-doubt and fear. But I pressed on with hope and courage
and started to take classes here at BCC. Let me tell you, that first
semester my mind was like a rock. Nothing would sink in. But as
time went on, my rock became a sponge and the knowledge was seeping
into the pores like I never thought possible. Thank God for BCC,
for you, my professors and for you, my peers. You were all so welcoming;
my safe place in a time of turmoil. All of you gave me a purpose
to get my butt out of bed. All of you gave structure to my life
at a time when I needed it the most. All of you gave me a new four
letter word…hope.
I was reminded of this gift of hope the other
day as I was heading from Lenox to BCC. I was driving past the airport
on Barker Road. Just as I was driving past the runway, a plane lifted
off over me. As I watched it climb into the sky, I felt as if my
hopes for my future were taking off with that plane, going to unknown
places, bringing my eagerness to expand my education and experiences
from BCC to a waiting world.
Along with this new found hope comes another
four letter word…fear. Fear can hold us back from pursuing
our hopes…fear of ridicule and fear of failure. I attended
a lecture at Canyon Ranch some time ago about making positive things
happen in your life, and I remember the speaker telling us that
the more people you tell about your hopes, plans, and goals, the
more apt you are to follow through with them. John F. Kennedy once
said, “We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing
our hopes.” Well, I’m telling all of you, I have some
very ambitious plans. It is my hope to own and operate a small,
intimate hotel in the Caribbean. I will not let my fear hold me
back. I am willing to take a risk.
All of you, depart from this place today and
do not let anyone or anything stand in your way of pursuing your
hopes. Winston Churchill once said, “This is not the end.
It is not even the beginning of the end. It is perhaps the end of
the beginning.” This day, Graduates, is not the end. It is
our beginning to bring our hopes out into the waiting world. Good
luck to each and every one of you and God bless. And, by the way…Hope
to see you someday in the Caribbean.
updated: 10/21/05, /std
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