Earth Day shoud be every day...

           

I grew up on the shores of Onondaga Lake in Upstate New York. I am reminded of it on a regular basis because years ago a friend gave me a framed photograph of it for my birthday. It hangs in my study where I am writing this column. It’s a beautiful lake, and unusual in New York as there is virtually no residential development around its shores. Three quarters of the lake is surrounded by one of the longest parks in Upstate New York and attracts over a million visitors a year.  Like most “Upstaters,” I spent a good chunk of the summer playing Frisbee with friends while enjoying the cool breezes that came off the lake. I never swam in Onondaga Lake, however. If I wanted to swim, I would have to drive 16 miles to the south and east of Onondaga Lake where Green Lake hosted a wide, sandy beach on its northern shore.

            Onondaga Lake is considered to be the most polluted lake in the United States. Swimming was banned in 1940 and commercial fishing on the lake ended in 1970. The lake’s destruction began in 1884 when the Solvay Process Company started producing soda ash which is used in the manufacture of a wide variety of products including paper and glass. Its by-products traversed a viaduct which then dumped them directly into the lake. I can still remember seeing the effluent pour into the lake while playing ball on the opposite shore.  Even though Solvay Process closed its plant almost 30 years ago, Onondaga Lake is still unsafe; having been classified as a public health threat and listed as a Federal Superfund site. It will take 15 years and a third of a billion dollars to restore Onondaga Lake to the condition it was in at the time the Iroquois Confederacy was created along its shores.

            Today (April 22^nd) is the 43^rd anniversary of Earth Day. From a modest protest march of Columbia University students down Fifth Avenue, the celebration of Earth Day has spread to schools and colleges throughout the United States and to 192 countries. The Clean Water Act became law just three years after the first Earth Day Celebration and, forty years later, continues to set the standard for what substances can be introduced into the Nation’s rivers and lakes. It took another 16 years, however, before Solvay Process would stop dumping chemicals into Onondaga Lake.  Even today the lake continues to receive treated waste water from the local Metropolitan Sewage Treatment Facility.

            It never occurred to me when I was young that the willful pollution of Onondaga Lake was a monumental eco-crime. I just took it for granted that the lake was unswimmable as I drove the 16 miles to Green Lake. So, I wonder what our students take for granted now that Earth Day has become an annual fact of life. Certainly the seniors in our Environmental Science class get a hefty dose of reality as they manage a school-wide recycling program two to three times a week.  I wonder if they take note of the large quantities of paper that fill the blue bins in offices and classrooms. I wonder if they take for granted that not all the paper is recyclable and that a good chunk of it will help to fill up a land fill in Puente Hills. And, as I took for granted that Onondaga Lake was unswimmable, will they assume that recycling is as good as it gets and - even more to the point - will they ask themselves who does the recycling when school lets out for the summer?

            Thanks to the generosity of one of our most loyal donors, the School has created the Robinson Fellowship in Environmental Science. Three juniors will be given the opportunity to spend a week this summer in Yellowstone Park, working side by side with National Park Service ecologists and field researchers. They will work on conservation and wildlife restoration projects, collect data related to current field research including population studies, invasive and endangered species accounting as well as challenges to the food chain.  As part of the Fellowship, they will be expected to prepare a presentation on the experience to their fellow students in the Environmental Science class.

            Perhaps these students - and those who will follow them to Yellowstone Park - will acquire a better appreciation for the fragility of Nature than those of us who took for granted that we lived on the shores of the most polluted lake in the United States.

Papa del Popolo

            For the first time in a long time, it feels good to be Catholic. The troubles that have beset the Church here in the US and across the globe have been, at times, overwhelming for the average person in the pew (myself included). So, to have the opportunity to watch the presentation of our new Pope live on TV (I played hooky from my weekly Rotary meeting), was an enormous spiritual shot in the arm. Then, to learn that he is the first pope from the Americas and that he would be taking the name, Francis, symbolizing his long-standing commitment to the poor and marginalized, enabled this discouraged Catholic to hope that his papacy would move in a fresh direction; one which would rescue a Church mired in scandal, ecclesiastical intrigue and the loss of Church-going members on a massive scale.

            To highlight the importance of that last issue: the National Opinion Research Center reports that only 7% of Americans identify as “strong” Catholics. In Italy, the most “Catholic” country in the world, that number is a mere 22% and in Brazil, home to the greatest number of Catholics on the globe, only 20% attend Mass on a regular basis.

In his resignation statement, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the Church facing a world of "rapid changes" whose faith has been "shaken".  Our new Pope is faced with a bewildering array of challenges that are unique to this century. With Catholics abandoning the pews in droves, vocations to the priesthood and religious life in free fall and the very credibility of the Church itself in question, Pope Francis will shoulder burdens that would fell lesser individuals. His every move will be analyzed, critiqued and criticized. Fellow Jesuit, Commentator Thomas Reese, SJ succinctly characterized the ideal qualities of the next pope as “Jesus Christ with an MBA.”

Fortunately we appear to have a Pope who is keenly aware of the power of symbolic behavior to shape minds and change hearts - beginning with the name he has chosen - which has never been selected by any previous pope. And, because he is a Jesuit, he quickly made certain that everyone knew he was referring to Saint Francis of Assisi and not Saint Francis Xavier, one of the co-founders of his religious order. Furthermore, our new Pope, on exiting the Conclave, eschewed the papal limousine to ride in the same bus as the Cardinals who elected him. Perhaps my favorite symbolic behavior of this Pope took place on the loggia overlooking Saint Peter’s Square just after his election had been announced. Before imparting the usual blessing of a new pope on the crowd gathered in front of him, Francis asked the crowd to pray for him. He bent forward in prayer and immediately the crowd of thousands in the Square grew silent with their own prayer.

I’d like to think there was an additional explanation for the Holy Father’s selection of the name Francis; which lies in the founding story of the Saint from Assisi. While praying in La Porciúncula - a small chapel which had fallen into disrepair - he encountered Jesus in a vision, asking Francis to “rebuild my church”.  It was only later, when Francis had gathered the small group of men who formed what would become the world-wide Order of Franciscans, that the Saint realized the Lord wanted him to address the spiritual and philosophical decay of the Catholic Church, not a small chapel located beyond the gates of Assisi.

Perhaps the Lord is calling Pope Francis to “rebuild his Church.” Perhaps we have a pope who understands that actions matter more than words. Perhaps “sign and symbol” will become the hallmark of his papacy and serve to fulfill the dream of the last two popes to create a “new evangelization” which will bring Catholics together in ways that weren’t possible in the recent past. Saint Francis encouraged his friars to preach the Gospel at all times and, when necessary, use words.

I think this pope gets that instruction right.

Leaving our comfort zone behind...

Our Seniors are wandering through that “no man’s land” which separates their application to college from the eagerly anticipated “thick” envelope offering admission or dreaded “thin” envelope denying same (increasingly it’s an email).  Rallies, athletic contests, retreats and Churro sales in the Dining Hall keep them from obsessing about what Fate will bring to their mailbox; but it’s fair to say that the wait can feel excruciatingly long.

            The burden of “getting into the right college” has been a central element of the adolescent experience since the time the first SAT was administered to high school juniors. And, as selectivity, based upon SAT performance, narrows the pool of potentially “right colleges,” high school seniors are hedging their bets by applying to more and more schools. Ironically, the lingering effects of the “Great Recession” have not impacted the total number of college applications being submitted.  The National Association of College Admission Counseling reports “a record increase in applications submitted per-student” - meaning that the fear of not getting into the “right college” fuels a scatter-shot approach to the college admission process in which more applications is seen as better than less applications. NACAC reports that 25% of all enrolled freshmen applied to seven or more schools in 2010.

            The law of “unintended consequences” applies here as colleges must offer more students admission in order to compensate for their declining yield rates - caused by the explosion in the number of applications per-student. NACAC reports the yield (students who accept the offer of admission) for the 266 national universities (schools that offer a full range of undergraduate majors, as well as master's and doctoral degrees, and tend to emphasize research) was an average of 36%. At the 233 national four-year liberal arts colleges (primarily undergraduate education) the yield was even lower - 30%.­ While the yield rates at Harvard and Stanford (76% and 70%, respectively) reinforce the general perception that elite colleges are out of reach for the average high school senior, a comparison of yield rates for a wide variety of colleges and universities would generate a fair degree of surprise to the casual observer.  Claremont McKenna College, for example, at a 49% yield rate, beats the much larger (and presumably more prestigious) UC Berkeley at 38% and UCLA at 37%. Universities and colleges that rank below the average yield of 36% and 30%, respectively offer more surprises for the casual observer.  Azusa Pacific University, for example, has a yield rate of 29% while the more nationally known and prominent; Boston College yields a mere 23% of admission offers. (At the high school level, by way of contrast, La Salle continues to enroll students in the last three entry points at a yield rate between 40% and 60%; however this is down from a yield rate of 66 % prior to the onset of the “Great Recession.”)

            The point of this comparison is to remind seniors and their parents that there are a series of “right” colleges out there for every college bound student - if the universe of options is seen broadly and in light of the individual needs of each high school Senior. Yield rates, along with profiles of applied and admitted students, enable parents and students to assess their chances of being admitted to a wide variety of prestigious and regional universities and colleges.

            This leads me to ponder a recent op-ed piece by New York Times columnist Frank Bruni; who recently expressed concern that his niece - like most college-bound students - “gets too distracted by rankings, ratings, (and) brands” For Bruni (and I must agree), his niece’s understanding of college has unfortunately become the arbiter of life’s chances after college; when the traditional mission of higher education has always been to expand opportunities to explore after college. And yet, the 2010 Census reports that only 30% of the workforce possess a college degree (up from 26% in 2000); college graduates, regardless of major and/or “brand,” continue to enjoy an employment advantage over their peers who stopped their formal education at the end of high school.  So why not explore the possibilities colleges have to offer, rather than becoming boxed into one “brand,” major or career track?  Here’s Bruni’s advice to his niece:

… treat your undergraduate education as a rare license, before you’re confined by the burdens of full-fledged adulthood and before the costs of experimentation rise, to be tugged outside your comfort zone.

The good news about the relatively low yield rates of a broad spectrum of colleges and universities is that a knowledgeable Senior can target a school in which his/her profile matches their published profile of the average applicant with a reasonable assurance that an offer of admission will be forthcoming.  So, why not approach the college selection process with a willingness to move out of an adolescent comfort zone? Bruni puts it this way;

… I can think of no better talents to pick up in college than fearlessness, nimbleness and the ability to roll with change, adapt to newness and improvise.

Needless to say, for Southern Californians, this might mean a willingness to experience snow (and not the skiing kind) or a rural area or a skyscraper city or the humidity of the South (and not the Texas kind). Bruni hopes that high school students “ask themselves not which school is the surest route to riches but which will give them the richest experiences to draw from, which will broaden their frames of reference.”

            The good news for those of us who share Bruni’s view of higher education is that regardless of what college or university our Seniors enter next Fall, they will be stretched by the experience and begin to acquire the ability to roll with change and to adapt to newness and to improvise.

And, as they settle into their new college, they will look over their shoulder and wonder what all the fuss was about last March.

           

           

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­  cf. http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2013/01/28/national-universities-where-most-accepted-students-enroll for the full report

Trying to remain faithful to a loving God

The Newtown tragedy raises a series of questions, the least important of which (for me) is the question of gun control. Other questions that arise include the social impact of undiagnosed/untreated mental health issues; what constitutes public safety in public buildings and, of course, what is the obligation of the bystander to prevent mayhem? The most important question for me is also a deeply Catholic one - how to reconcile the problem of evil with a belief in a loving God? Philosophers and theologians since the time of Saint Thomas Aquinas have been grappling with this conundrum for generations. The Catholic answer rests in our understanding of the gift of free will, which God has bestowed upon us. The Church teaches that God created us to love Him and each other; but for love to exist, we have to be able to choose it. Choice implies that there is an opposing view: namely that we can choose to be evil as readily as we can choose to be good (and hence, loving).

When faced with the specific evil of Newtown, scholastic debates regarding the problem of evil, free will and choice can appear to be beside the point. Just ask the First Responders who entered those classrooms containing the bullet-riddled bodies of six and seven year old children. These tough, “seen-it-all” men and women collapsed into each other’s arms after they had completed their awful responsibility to determine if there were any survivors among these “Holy Innocents.” Already, some of them have begun treatment for PTSD. Or ask those noble teachers who either got in the way of the bullets or exercised yeoman effort to hide the children entrusted to their care. After the horror of a parent learning of the death of a child, I can think of no worse horror than that of the teacher who does not know how to keep students safe in the face of implacable and unexplainable evil. This is the challenge inherent in any effort to reconcile the problem of evil with a loving God - it is always intellectually credible and often emotionally unsustainable - especially in the face of tragedy. This is particularly frustrating in situations such as Newtown where the assailant commits suicide, robbing us of the now unanswerable question “Why?” We are left with our emotions to make sense of the matter. And, in the absence of answers, we seek solutions which arise out of our emotional reactions.

This is certainly true with respect to the debate around gun control. Both sides of the issue often adopt extreme positions out of fear that a compromise solution will erode into a “slippery slope” of accommodation. For example one left-of-center Blog asserted this claim:

The bottom line is that a gun is a lethal weapon and its only function is to kill; the fewer people have it, the better it is.

While this is an emotionally satisfying argument for those who support greater measures to control gun ownership, its assumption that legislation predicated upon an arbitrary goal of reducing the number of people who own guns runs afoul of the Second Amendment. To pass judicial muster, any limitation on the scope of the Bill of Rights must demonstrate a compelling argument in favor of the general welfare. The First Amendment right to free speech, for example, was famously constrained by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.’s opinion in Schenck v. US in which he argued that no one has the right to “yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater.” So gun control legislation must address the danger posed to the general welfare, for example, of an “assault weapon.” It is equally misleading - though no less emotionally satisfying - to argue as National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre has that:

The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Yet there were no less than two armed security personnel on the scene at Columbine in 1999. Both took shots at Harris, one of two assailants, and both missed. Parenthetically, including Newtown, there have been an additional 31 school shootings since Columbine.The point is this: emotional solutions to controversial issues are never easy and certainly never simple. As Professor Evan Getz, at Houston Baptist University, observed: “There is no way to make sure that nothing like the Sandy Hook murders ever happen again.” He is right; which brings us back to the problem of evil. If we cannot prevent evil from intruding into our lives in highly visible and dramatic ways, what can we do?
        An “unsung hero” of the Sandy Hook shootings is Msgr. Robert Weiss, Pastor of Saint Rose of Lima Church, where ten of the 26 victims were parishioners. When asked how the people of Newtown should deal with the celebration of Christmas, he had this to say: “I believe that we celebrate it in its truest sense, putting aside all the secularity and simply sitting in silence and praying that the hope, healing and peace promised to us by Christ will be given to us in abundance.” It is a little too easy to dismiss Msgr. Weiss’ words as more pious than realistic. But, at the end of the day, are not all believers called to trust in the loving God who (apparently) allows evil to enter into our world? For those of us who doubt this proposition (myself included), here is the evidence Msgr. Weiss used to support his take on the problem of evil and the existence of a loving God:

The moment the first responder broke through the doors we knew good always overcomes evil.

For now, that is good enough for this believer.

The Art Project

            I am back in my office after having spent a delightful hour in the Duffy Lewis Gymnasium enjoying a magnificent Student Christmas Assembly put on by the Visual and Performing Arts Department. There was something for everyone…the 48 voice Choir sang, the elite Jazz Ensemble performed, as did the Advanced Band, the newly formed String Ensemble wowed the students with their technique, the Dance program was showcased, including two students who compete in Irish Step Dancing.  There were soloists and a video (produced by the students in the Film and Digital Media Program) entitled The Art Project that featured interviews of student members of the Visual and Performing Arts Department talking about the impact Art (in all of its manifestations) had on their individual development.

            As I returned to my office, I was struck by two different impressions; the first focused on the obvious - the amazing depth and breadth of student artistic talent which is drawn to La Salle’s VPA program - and, the less obvious but no less important, phenomenal reaction of their student colleagues who cheered and, at one point, initiated a standing ovation, in appreciation of the accomplishments of the student artists performing on the gym floor.  As I watched the performance, I realized how much the community of La Salle takes for granted the unique elements - one of which is our four-year Arts Program - that distinguish us from other private high schools in the greater Pasadena area. As an Academic Advisor to freshmen, I regularly work with students who need to schedule certain courses during the School’s Summer Academic Institute in order to ensure that they will be able to pursue their passion in the Arts each semester for the next four years. I’ve been in the school business for over 30 years and I don’t know of another school (certainly none that I’ve worked in) where teenagers willingly take a summer school class in order to clear a space in their schedule so that they could concentrate on one particular academic discipline (this also happens in the Mathematics Department for students who want to take the two-semester Advanced Placement Calculus program in their Senior year).  And yet, we have over 100 students doing exactly that.

            As I reflected on these taken-for-granted elements of the La Salle Difference, it occurred to me that I’m probably not the only Lancer who assumes that the day-to-day experience of the teenagers entrusted to our care is normative for all high school students. Sadly, in fact, for most California teenagers, this is not the case. There is irony in our “take-it-for-granted” attitude to this unique approach to Arts Education at La Salle. While more than one research study highlights the value of exposure to the Arts for all educational disciplines; the Arts are among the first programs to fall prey to the budget axe in the public sector. Budget cuts and the Great Recession have reduced these opportunities for most high school students in the Golden State. Like Counseling, Arts Education is often the first to feel the impact of the deficit-cutting axe when there are too few dollars to support all of the worthwhile educational programs that ought to be available to every student in California.

In his forward to the 2011 report of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities: Re-Investing in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools, US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan made this observation:

The opportunity to learn about the arts and to perform as artists is an essential part of a well-rounded curriculum and complete education. The study of drama, dance, music, and the visual arts helps students explore realities, relationships, and ideas that cannot be conveyed simply in words or numbers. The ability to perform and create in the fine arts engenders innovative problem-solving skills that students can apply to other academic disciplines and provides experiences working as a team.

            This is not a screed against the tortured financial politics of the Golden State. What I want to share in this reflection is the deep gratitude I have for the generous donors - alumni, current parents, grandparents and parents of alumni - who recognize that the La Salle Difference is not only worthy of their philanthropic support but dependent upon their generosity - if we are to successfully implement our Mission to “nurture, inspire, challenge and motivate” the students entrusted to our care. Secretary Duncan uses the term “the magic of the Arts” to describe the impact these disciplines can - and must - have on elementary and secondary students. I am especially grateful for the essential role the “magic of the arts” plays here at La Salle.

           

           

To Abstain or Not to Abstain...

The Catholic Bishops in the United States assemble each autumn to discuss issues of common concern, address social challenges and debate proposed changes in Catholic life and worship. As I write this, the Bishops are finishing up this year’s assembly in Baltimore. Their annual gathering begins with an address by the Conference President, Cardinal Timothy Dolan. One of the points he made to his brother Bishops was the suggestion that they reconsider the forty-year old policy regarding abstaining from meat on Fridays in Lent. Bear with me - this only sounds like a Catholic version of “inside baseball.” Catholics of a certain age (i.e. my age and older) remember Catholic life before Vatican II. It was rich in the use of signs and symbols which were distinctly Catholic (although, I must admit, our Anglican/Episcopalian brethren shared many of the same customs). Any Catholic who experienced the “Baltimore Catechism” will recognize the distinction between “internal” and “external” signs of faith. Abstaining from meat on Fridays in Lent, for example, is an “external” sign of faith.

What Cardinal Dolan encouraged the Nation’s Bishops to consider was a return to the pre-Vatican II custom of abstaining from meat on every Friday, not just the ones occurring during the 40 days of Lent. His argument was simple and pastoral: “We need to recapture the significance of Friday as a day of penance in union with Jesus on the cross.” This exhortation of the value of penance may sound odd to Californians who have grown up in the Golden State accepting as an article of secular faith that the “good life” is within easy reach; but it is very much in harmony with the challenges facing all people of faith on the West Coast. A variety of media outlets, for example, have described the “rise of the nones,” those who check “none” on surveys of religious affiliation. If the “nones” were a church, they would be the fastest growing sect in America. The LA Times, for example, recently reported that: “About 75% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 now consider themselves "spiritual but not religious." In other words, organized religion does not matter to them. This raises the obvious question: Should it matter? And, secondarily, what does this disturbing trend have to do with abstaining from meat on Fridays? The answer to the first question is to be found in the number one priority of Pope Benedict’s pontificate: the “New Evangelization.” One media definition of the concept works for me:

“The new evangelization aims to reach out to alienated Catholics who in many cases have become effectively secularized.”

It goes without saying that the survey data on declining American participation in organized religion highlights the importance of the Pope’s initiative to re-engage alienated Catholics. So, what does this have to do with eating (or not eating) meat on Fridays? Cardinal Dolan’s initiative to re-visit the limitation of Friday abstinence to the forty days of Lent is couched in substantive sociological research regarding the markers of success for organized religion. Cardinal Dolan puts it this way: “any faith community to remain coherent and vibrant has to have certain external signs;” which identify the religious organization as distinct and different from other religious organizations. Cardinal Dolan goes on to note that scholars of religion report that exterior marks of membership help make a religion cohesive and attractive.

“Cradle” Catholics understand this sociological imperative. Many of us grew up in a world where the Rosary was prayed daily, children were given the names of saints, exposition of the Blessed Sacrament was preceded by a religious procession and the smell of incense was a familiar one. These external marks, along with a year-round abstinence from meat on Fridays “marked” Catholics as belonging to a distinct group of people. As our world has become more ecumenical and, obviously, more diverse; it is becoming increasingly more difficult to know where the boundary between organized religion and secularism is to be drawn. External signs of faith not only define that boundary but also reinforce the value of membership. Andrew Greeley in his book, The Catholic Revolution: New Wine, Old Wineskins, and the Second Vatican Council, underscores the role abstinence from meat played in defining our Catholic identity:

“Fish on Friday had been a symbol that most visibly distinguished American Catholics from other Americans.”

These markers reinforce our conviction that to be Catholic (or a member of an organized religion) is to believe that one has been graced by God with a faith that offers comfort in this life and happiness in the next.

It may seem odd, therefore, to call for greater discipline by abstaining from meat once a week in order to reinforce the comfort in this life that our faith offers; indeed, I take issue with the penitential practices of Lent here ("Odd" Ash Wednesday). Nevertheless, if our faith is to mean anything, we must be reminded of the power of its promise to secure happiness with God in the next life. Perhaps a little less meat will not only improve the health of our body, but our soul as well.

Oh the places you'll go...

Each year, right around the time that the Royal Court of the Tournament of Roses is announced, I am reminded of the 80/20 rule (80% of the work is done by 20% of the workers). This certainly seems true of the seven impressive young women who survived the month-long winnowing out process which began with 900 supplicants to the throne. Our own Tracy Cresta ’13 is a case in point. Chosen to be one of the seven who will ride down Colorado Boulevard in royal splendor on January 1^st. At La Salle, Tracy is also a captain of the cross country and track and field teams and is a member of the National Honor Society, the California Scholarship Federation, Student Ambassadors and the Physical Activity Club. She will need to balance studying for tests, turning projects in on time, filling out college applications and maintaining a high degree of involvement in her chosen sports and activities while appearing at more than 150 events that is expected of a member of the Royal Court.  And, Tracy wasn’t the only Lancer ready to shoulder the burden of Tournament responsibilities. Jen Robi ‘13 and Alexandra Cross ‘13 made it to the final 25, from which the seven members of the Court were selected.

I find it fascinating that talented and involved young women like Tracy, Jen and Alex are willing to squeeze one more thing into their incredibly busy schedules. Even more remarkable is the fact that they confidently put themselves into an arena in which over 900 other teenagers were vying for the same seven slots on the Queen’s Float. While it may be true that many of the 900 contestants may not have been as serious about winning one of the seven slots which were awarded to Tracy and her companions, still, in an era in which adolescence is viewed by many as a self-centered world of drama, intrigue and wildly inaccurate gossip; these young women chose to lift themselves above the "sturm und drang" of adolescent social pressures to reach for a goal that, if achieved, meant more work, more self-discipline and less time to do the things that teenagers do.

What they may not realize, in the midst of the excitement and publicity which surrounds their selection to the Court, is that they are absorbing magnificent life lessons that will serve them well on their journey to adulthood. These are lessons that high school teachers have been trying to share with their adolescent charges for as long as schools have existed: discipline in one’s personal and professional life; cooperation with individuals one probably never met before and who may (or may not) become life-long friends, being pleasant to complete strangers (over and over again), channeling one’s energies in support of situations completely out of one’s control and, especially, smiling even when you don’t feel like it.

Tournament of Roses President Sally Bixby chose as her theme:

Oh the Places you’ll go

The great educational lesson for these young women is to be found in President Bixby’s observation that this year’s theme will have resonance in the lives of all the girls on the Royal Court.  In her words: "There is nothing you cannot do; nowhere you cannot be." I can’t think of a more important message to give young women who are about to enter the uncertain world of adulthood in which higher education and professional success are being challenged by economic turmoil. The Tournament’s world of possibility opened to these young women at the time of their 15 second interview in which they successfully distinguished themselves from the other 900 candidates.  But it didn’t stop there. This queen and her six princesses had to pass through four more rounds of interviews in which 250 candidates were reduced to 75, then 25 and finally, seven.  The stamina, commitment and drive needed to successfully negotiate this challenging process say a great deal about the Royal Court.  More importantly, it reflects their strength of character and sense of confidence so necessary later in life when they will be confronted with promoting themselves in job interviews, sustaining long hours as they build their career and balancing family and work, when the time comes.

            I asked Tracy Cresta what she has learned so far from her experience with the Tournament. Amazingly, she replied: “I’ve learned how to be more confident.”  This, from a young woman who has a full schedule of athletics and service activities at School on top of a grueling schedule with the Tournament. Oh, and by the way, she plans to attend either San Diego State University or Loyola Marymount University and hopes to become a lawyer and later, a judge.

“Oh the places you’ll go.”