Sunday, June 14, 2009

My Daughter's Graduation Ceremony

The Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Hebrew University, Professor Boaz Shamir, spoke about what he had learned as a student, and about what he hoped the graduating students had learned. He mentioned five things: learning to think, learning to learn, learning about a field, developing (or beginning to develop) a world view, and knowing oneself better.
Since our daughter was living with us for two of the three years of her studies, we could see that on every front, she was achieving those five things, and it was a privilege and pleasure for us as parents to see her develop.
The Dean's words prompted me to look back at what I took away from my own undergraduate education. It seems to me that on the first four of the five counts, I did well at Princeton. But I don't think I knew myself much better at the end. I asked Judith whether she would say that her four years at Wellesley gave her self-knowledge, and she laughed.
We were both twenty-one when we graduated, and Hannah, our daughter, is twenty-five, because, like most Israelis, she served in the army for two years and also did a lot of travelling before beginning her studies. It isn't possible for twenty-one year olds to know themselves as well as twenty-five year olds, and it probably isn't possible for universities to attempt intentionally to provide students with self-knowledge. But it would probably be a good idea if beginning students were told that one of their major tasks in the coming years would be to increase their self-knowledge -- whether they're studying physics or finance.

Monday, June 8, 2009

The Case of Joshua Redman

I don't really mean to use such a gifted person as a "case."
He had a choice: to pursue a career in law or to give himself a chance to become a great musician.
Another African-American, in an earlier time, Paul Robeson, faced the same choice and, in fact, attended Columbia Law School. Then, confronted by blatant racism in the law office where he was working, he developed exploited his talent as a singer and actor.
But Joshua Redman reached maturity in a new era, with a lot less racism, and, with his intellectual gifts, he could well have been in line to be the second African-American president, after Barack Obama. It must have been a very difficult choice for Redman: Yale Law School and the road to political and economic power and a solid social position or the tenor saxophone and the risks of a career in music. I honor his courage for taking the risky path, and, having heard him play recently, I am grateful to him for making that choice.
I have read about other very talented young people who chose the piano over medical school or a career in mathematics over a career as a violinist. I also read about a man who was a successful ballet dancer until he reached his forties and then started college as a freshman. Of course a dancer, like an athlete, knows that his career will end with his youth, and, if he is prudent, he will plan for the future. But usually the options we are offered are mutually exclusive, which makes the choice among them agonizing. How can a person of twenty-two begin to imagine what his or her life will be like in another couple of decades?
At my age, my options are more restricted than they ever were, from one point of view. After all, how much can I do even if I am granted another twenty years of decent health? But they are also less restricted than before: I've esssentially done what was expected of a man from my background; there's no point in regretting what I might have achieved and failed to attain; what's done is done. There's less risk now in deciding to put all my chips on a number and letting the ball stop where it will.