Remarks by 1956 alumna Jane Carroll Christensen,
delivered to her classmates
on the occasion of their 50th reunion, at the Colorado College
Fifty Year Club
Induction Service held in Shove Chapel October 6, 2006.
______________________________________________________________________
GREETINGS PRESIDENT CELESTE, HONORED FACULTY & ADMINISTRATION,
HONORED GUESTS.....ESPECIALLY HONORED FELLOW STUDENTS OF THE CLASS
OF 1956
WE HAVE SURVIVED--- AND I BELIEVE WE COULD TEACH THE REALITY
TV
SURVIVORS A THING OR TWO ABOUT REAL SURVIVAL
BUT SADLY ENOUGH, 45 OF OUR COLLEAGUES HAVE NOT SURVIVED, AND
I’D LIKE FOR US TO HONOR THEM , PLEASE, WITH A MOMENT OF
SILENCE
BECAUSE I AM A BELIEVER IN RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS, MY REMARKS
WILL BE BRIEF.
WHEN I WAS STUDYING ABROAD, I WAS OFTEN ASKED “WHAT IS
COLORADO COLLEGE? IS IT LIKE HARVARD?”
MY ANSWER WAS “NO, NO, MUCH BETTER THAN HARVARD!”
WHAT MADE US BETTER? WHAT MAKES ME THINK WE HAD A SUPERIOR EDUCATION?
THERE ARE MANY DEFINITIONS OF “EDUCATION” FLOATING
AROUND, BUT MY FAVORITE IS THAT OF ROBERT FROST:
“ EDUCATION IS HANGING AROUND UNTIL YOU’VE CAUGHT
ON.”
SOMETIMES WE AREN’T ALWAYS SURE WE’VE CAUGHT ON UNTIL
LATER. BUT WE HUNG AROUND COLORADO COLLEGE, MOST OF US FOR FOUR
YEARS, AND WE CAUGHT ON AND WERE CAUGHT. WHAT DID WE CATCH? WHAT
STARTED DURING THAT TIME AT CC? WHAT WAS THE PROCESS THAT MADE
US VALUABLE, EDUCATED CITIZENS.
I HAVE FOUR GLIMPSES TO MATCH OUR FOUR YEARS;
FIRST, WE WERE HONED TO BE PRECISE IN LANGUAGE: SPEECH, WRITING,
THINKING. IT MAY SOUND STRANGE, EVEN STIFF, THAT THE DISCIPLINE
OF BEING PRECISE AFFECTS MUCH OF OUR LIVES.
WHEN I WORKED IN WASHINGTON, D.C., I LEARNED THAT BEING IMPRECISE
INVITED TROUBLE ALL DOWN THE LINE. SENATE AND HOUSE BILLS LANGUISHED
AND DIED FROM LACK OF PRECISE THINKING AND WORDING. SPEECHES ROLLED
RIGHT OVER HEADS WITH INFLATED, GENERALIZED PROSE.
I’VE READ SOME OF THIS YEAR’S SAT FIRST-TIME REQUIRED
ESSAYS WRITTEN BY HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS, ALMOST ALL OF WHICH SUFFER
FROM: LACK OF FOCUS, LITTLE SKILLFUL USE OF LANGUAGE AND AWKWARD
GENERALITY. “WE PREFER TRUE/ FALSE AND MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS”
THE SENIORS ARGUED. OF COURSE.
I STILL REMEMBER IN MY FRESHMAN YEAR DR. TOM ROSS INFORMING ME:
“MISS CARROLL, IN YOUR PAPERS YOU USE 30 WORDS TO EXPRESS
AN IDEA WHEN YOU COULD BE PRECISE AND USE JUST 10. “SADLY
ENOUGH, HE HAD TO WORK ON MY CARROLLIAN STYLE ALL FOUR YEARS.
OR THERE WAS DR. HOCHMAN IN FREEDOM AND AUTHORITY (WHO HAD ONLY
ONE YEAR TO STRAIGHTEN ME OUT)...RESPONDING TO A FLURRY OF WORDS
FROM ME....IN HIS GENTLE BUT PIERCING WAY, “BUT EXACTLY
WHAT IS YOUR POINT?” PRECISION.....IN OUR THINKING, SPEAKING,
WRITING.
SECOND, WE FOUND OURSELVES CONFRONTED WITH AND LEARNING TO TOLERATE
AMBIGUITY (OPEN TO MORE THAN ONE INTERPRETATION) AND PARADOX (SEEMINGLY
CONTRADICTORY STATEMENT THAT COULD BE TRUE) WITH A BIT OF IRONY
AND HUMOR TUCKED IN.
SUDDENLY WE WERE FACED WITH NO EASY ANSWERS TO SOME OF LIFE’S
DEEPEST QUESTIONS. BUT WE “HUNG AROUND” AND FIGURED
OUT THAT MAYBE WE DIDN’T ALWAYS NEED SIMPLISTIC ANSWERS.
IMAGINE.... LOVE AND HATE MAY NOT BE OPPOSITES. LOVE’S OPPOSITE
MAY NOT BE HATE... BUT INDIFFERENCE. THE WORLD WE INHABIT TODAY,
PERHAPS MORE THAN PAST TIMES, DEMANDS A RESPECT FOR AND TOLERATION
OF AMBIGUITY: A PAUSING, A REFUSAL TO MAKE SNAP JUDGMENTS OR JUMP
TO EASY ANSWERS. THE ART OF PONDERING.
THIRD, WE DISCOVERED THAT WE HAD TO BALANCE OUR PERSONAL, INDIVIDUAL
NEEDS AND GOALS WITH THOSE OF THE COMMUNITY. FOR THE FIRST TIME
WE FOUND OURSELVES IN A BRAND NEW FULL-TIME COMMUNITY OF PEERS.
THROUGH BEING WITH EACH OTHER, TESTING IDEAS, SHARING OUR SUCCESSES
AND FAILURES, LEARNING FROM ONE ANOTHER, WE FOUND WE COULDN’T
GIVE ALL OUR ATTENTION TO “JUST ME.” WE SUDDENLY HAD
TO CONSIDER OUR CLASSMATES, OUR CLUB, OUR SPORTS TEAM, OUR SORORITY
OR FRATERNITY, OUR COLLEGE, OUR FAMILY, OUR COUNTRY. WHO WE WERE
REFLECTED ON OTHERS; OUR PERSONAL CONTRIBUTIONS BENEFITTED OR
DETRACTED FROM THE WHOLE.
WE LEARNED FROM ONE ANOTHER AND CHALLENGED EACH OTHER IN IDEAS,
ETHICS, AND DREAMS. IN FACT, IT WAS A SMALL GROUP OF STUDENTS
WHO INTRODUCED ME TO MY OWN PERSONAL FAITH.
WE HAD GENUINE COMMUNITY IN AND OUT OF CLASS WITH PROFESSORS
AS WELL: FISHING WITH DOC STABLER WHO HELPED ME CORRECT “THE
WORST CAST HE’D EVER SEEN,” DISCUSSING MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
AROUND DR. ROSS’S FIREPLACE, SHARING DINNER IN DR. HOCHMAN’S
HOME, WALKING ACROSS CAMPUS AND HAVING A MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION
WITH PRESIDENT LOU WARNER. I SENSE THE SAME WOULD BE TRUE TODAY
OF DR. CELESTE.
FOURTH AND LAST GLIMPSE IS THAT WE FOUND A SPARK. I CAN’T
FIND A BETTER WORD FOR THAT CONTAGION OF MIND THAT STARTED SMALL
INTELLECTUAL FIRES, LIFE-LONG CURIOSITIES, A STATE OF WONDER.
AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, WE ALL EXPERIENCED THE SPARK....WHICH
MAY BE SMOLDERING FOR A SPELL BUT ALWAYS COMES TO LIFE AT ODD
MOMENTS. THE NEED TO KNOW. THE ODD JOY OF LEARNING, THE SATISFACTION
OF A DISCOVERY. THE ‘WOW’ EXPERIENCE WHEN LEAST EXPECTED.
IT’S THE SPARK WE WATCH FOR IN OUR CHILDREN, THE SPARK WE
HOPE NOT LOSE IN OUR OWN LIVES.
LET ME CLOSE, SEEKING YOUR INDULGENCE, WITH A QUOTE FROM MY SON
MARK WHO WAS TRANSFORMED FROM A KNOCK-KNEED, AWKWARD BOY INTO
AN OUTSTANDING ALL-AMERICAN SOCCER PLAYER---- WHO GAVE ME A PATCHY
BACKYARD FOR YEARS DESIGNED AS A MINIATURE SOCCER FIELD AND LARGE
CHARTS OF HIS SOCCER PROGRESS AND REGRESS TAPED ON THE WALLS OF
HIS ROOM.
ONCE I ASKED HIM WHAT IT WAS THAT GAVE HIM HIS EDGE, HIS PROWESS
BEYOND ANY TALENT. TO THIS DAY I STILL REMEMBER BECAUSE I WROTE
IT DOWN.
“OKAY, FIRST YOU HAVE TO BE PART OF A GOOD TEAM THAT WORKS
WELL TOGETHER. SOCCER ISN’T A ONE MAN SPORT.
THEN YOU HAVE TO LEARN THE BASICS–AND I MEAN PRACTICE
DAY AFTER DAY. LEARN THOSE RULES AND MOVES----UP AND DOWN AND
AROUND, EVEN IF YOU AREN’T IN THE MOOD.
ONCE YOU’VE DONE THAT, YOU’RE SURE OF YOURSELF. THEN
YOU CAN MOVE WAY BEYOND THE BASICS.....BECOME CREATIVE, SHOW FINESSE.
MAN, THEN YOU CAN REALLY DANCE WITH THE BALL.”
TO COLORADO COLLEGE, FROM THE CLASS OF 1956: “THANK YOU.
THANK YOU FOR THE DANCE WITH THE BALL.”
