Friday Musings 5-24-13
It
is graduation time. I love a good graduation speech. I find them very
inspirational and thought-provoking. Here is one I really enjoy and I encourage
you to listen to the entire speech via TED Talks. I pulled out a couple excerpts to entice you
to listen to all of it.
Trish
Olson, University of Minnesota Extension Center for Family Development Program
Leader
JK Rowling 'The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination"
… “The knowledge that you have emerged
wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your
ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your
relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a
true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than
any qualification I ever earned.”
Did you
know that JK Rowling worked for Amnesty International? …..“What is more, those who choose not to empathize
enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil
ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.” …..
“One of the
many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I
ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was
this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.”What do I think of When I think of My Own High School Graduation?
I only had
12 girls in my high school class. When I graduated 4 were pregnant and 2 became
pregnant shortly after graduation. While
this was a dramatic change in trajectory for them at 18… Years later at our
30-year class reunion I saw how these women had “emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks.” One of these classmates
had become a foster mother and helped countless young women since high school
graduation. She had been honored by the county for her ability to give back. Another
shared how she read medical journals while a long-haul trucker to understand
and then advocate for her daughter who had a severe illness. In school, reading
was very difficult for her. Others were such proud grandmothers and family
caregivers. They had not only survived, they had thrived. I thought back to high school when learned
about this pregnancy prevention campaign….
“The Chicago Department of Public Health’s Office of Adolescent and School Health has launched its 2013 teen pregnancy prevention campaign that features a series of ads that challenge gender roles related to teen pregnancy and parenthood.
The campaign
features attention-grabbing images of teenage boys depicted as pregnant to spark
conversations among adolescents and adults on the issue of teen pregnancy and
to make the case that teen parenthood is more than just a girl’s
responsibility. The ads are currently displayed on public transit buses,
trains, platforms and bus shelters in Chicago.” At the website you will see
additional attention-grabbing photos.
Key
findings
·
Teen
birth rates fell at least 15% for all but two states during 2007–2011—the most
recent period of sustained decline; rates fell 30% or more in seven states.
·
Declines
in rates were steepest for Hispanic teenagers, averaging 34% for the United
States, followed by declines of 24% for non-Hispanic black teenagers and 20%
for non-Hispanic white teenagers.
·
The
long-term difference between birth rates for non-Hispanic black and Hispanic
teenagers has essentially disappeared, and by 2011 their rates were similar.
·
Rates
for Hispanic teenagers fell 40% or more in 22 states and the District of
Columbia (DC); rates dropped at least 30% in 37 states and DC.
Finally…
A Lovely Note from Suzanne Sheridan – We wish her well
Namaste
Family Development Friends~
Thank
you for 15 great years of learning, engaging, working and teaching with me at
Extension. I am grateful to bring all of
the wisdom that I have gained to future destinations where life will take
me.
Best of
luck to all and keep up the good work.
What a terrible background!
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