Posts Tagged ‘empathy’
If You Prick Us
[Editor’s note: This is a speech delivered to high school students, parents, teachers, and school board on a day honoring new inductees into the Cum Laude Society, an organization that honors scholastic achievement at secondary schools, similar to the Phi Beta Kappa Society, which honors scholastic achievements at the university level. Although delivered in 2005,…
Read MoreEveryone needs to work a customer service job
I was 15 years old when I got my first customer service job. I had my interview in the squeaky plastic booths of a small town’s frozen custard shop. I even wore dark pants and a thick blouse despite the 80-degree weather, just because I wanted to make a good impression for my first-ever interview.…
Read MoreLet’s Agree to Disagree
A few days ago, I graduated from Penn. It’s a moment I had anticipated for years, and now I am entering a world and workforce rife with uncertainty. While Penn taught me a lot of unexpected lessons regarding grit and perseverance, one in particular stands out in this current crisis: Try your best to understand…
Read MoreA message from “dumb” athletes
While some seem to believe that nothing athletes have to say is worthy of their time, we want to discuss why recent statements about student-athletes have underestimated just about every Yale student, in addition to shaming and devaluing a specific group within this community. The central message of these negative stereotypes is that student-athletes do…
Read MoreThe Costs of Paying Attention, The Value of Reflection
Recent studies done by neuroscientist Mary Helen Immordino-Yang (University of Southern California) and her colleague Joanna Christodoulou (Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT) suggest that educators need to consider much more carefully the role of reflection in learning.1 They cite new theories of two brain systems that control our attention. One is activated when we engage with…
Read MoreWhat Happens to Empathy Deferred?
As an alumnus of an independent school, I have enjoyed reading about the increasing emphasis on teaching cooperation, teamwork, mindfulness, and empathy. As independent schools become more globally and racially diverse, the need for greater reflection, for awareness of one’s own thinking and biases, and for curiosity about the perspectives of others also grows. The…
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