Commencemment Address, Minneapolis Program, 5/21/05

Thank you, Sister Andrea, for your kind introduction. And thank you Sister Jean and members of the Board of Trustees; and esteemed colleagues of the faculty and staff of the St. Catherine Minneapolis Campus. Thank you for bringing us this fine centennial class, the graduates of 2005.

We are so very proud of you. And we are encouraged, because the world needs you. As we sang this morning, "The whole of the earth will be blessed by you." The world definitely needs the skills you bring to the workplace. And we know we will be working shoulder to shoulder with you in the future as clinicians and teachers.

But on a more personal note there's probably not one of us on this stage who hasn't imagined the day we'll be sick or injured, requiring intubation, needing to have blood drawn or some other medical service. We imagine looking up from a hospital bed—and seeing your face. We want you to be good. We want you to be very good at what you do. And all of us here are very invested in the next steps you take.

Some years ago I got to work with a group of graduate students in education to develop a humanities based curriculum. All the content of the schools we designed spiraled around three core themes or strands: getting off to a good start, making a good life and building a better world.

The first strand, "getting a good start," is about doing what is foundational to human life: certainly showing up at work skilled and ready to earn a living. More important, it is about showing up able to engage with and care about those we meet each day.

A couple of years ago Dr. Larry Dossey appeared at a conference in Minneapolis to talk about caring—this critically important aspect of healing. He emphasized how important it is to know patients as whole persons and the meaning of their illness in their lives. After his presentation an audience member asked, "Dr. Dossey, how do you do this in your medical practice?" He answered, "Actually, I'm not really able to do that since I get to spend only eleven minutes with each patient. I have to rely on others who deliver direct care to do this."

Others who deliver direct care—that would be you. You are critically important in patient healing as the most immediate interface between patients and the health care system. It is you who put the care in the health care system.

Another aspect of getting a good start is showing up in relationships: our families, our friendships, our lifelong partnerships. I must say that when I first heard the phrase "no child left behind" I remembered a night some years ago when I had returned to the Minneapolis Campus to see a student. As I got off the elevator on the sixth floor I found a group of nursing students clustered by the big window. I asked them what they were doing at school so late. One of them explained that a student in their study group was having trouble preparing for the final exam. They all decided to come to help out. Another student said, "We've been together since our first course, and we're going to make it through together—we're not leaving anyone behind."

This, then, is part of getting off to a good start: building those mutual relationships that support you through the difficult times.

Louis Mbibi in your class represents that quality of building mutual relationships. Louis was a city planner in Nigeria. He found his way to Minneapolis in 2001, and through persistence and effort worked his way from bus driver and group home assistant to graduation today in the field of radiography. While his own quick mind made him a successful student, he has also been most generous in helping his classmates.

The second strand in the humanities based curriculum is "making a good life." This goal takes us beyond the core necessities of work and relationships. It is about seeking out new experiences, being a life-long learner and nourishing one's soul with music, art, literature and performance; spirituality; learning about history and philosophy and politics and global economics—because the entire globe is at our doorstep and affects us everyday.

A few weeks ago I called my internet customer service center. As the tech assistant and I were waiting for a program to download I asked him where he was located. He answered that he was in Buenos Aires. He described for me the harbor leading into Rio de la Plata which he could see from his window. "It must be beautiful," I said, thinking of my romantic idea of South America. "It's really polluted," he said. ("Ah," I thought. "Nothing is perfect.") As we talked I inquired about his accent, which I couldn't quite place. He told me that he was originally from Austria and had attended college in Ireland. His hobby was linguists and he took jobs like this one to save up money to travel to China and Japan and Turkey where he could follow his interests. We were starting to edge toward a more political conversation when the download was completed and we bid farewell. Since then I often have interesting conversations with customer service personnel around the world: and I've learned lots about the world that involves us both. You ought to try it.

Making a good life involves seeing ourselves as part of a bigger enterprise. It means meeting the challenges we face, knowing we are not alone, that we can ask for help. Beyond your work and your relationships, your lives will be fueled by the vision of one thing that will make your life really good—something you can be passionate about. Identify what that one thing is and go for it with everything you have.

Your classmate Naimo Farah illustrates this principle. At 10 years old, she was alone with her younger brother in a refugee camp in Somalia. She was able to maintain their lives for five years with some help from an older relative. Naimo knew that education was the key to making a good life, and through many hardships and challenges she and her brother made their way through life at the camp and finally to Minneapolis where she was able to pursue her formal education. Naimo and her husband Ali now have three children and she still supports two younger siblings in Kenya, while working and being a student. She is in the CSC Minneapolis nursing program.

The third strand of the humanities based curriculum is to "build a better world." Our Jewish friends have a powerful concept about this which is tikkun olam, which some translate as "repair the world." It means to leave the world a better place than we found it, and thus move the whole human enterprise forward. Building a better world means contributing to an enlightened society in which no one is ever left behind. It involves recognizing our gifts and generously investing these gifts in the world around us. In short, it is a sense of commitment to what has meaning and purpose beyond oneself.

Back in 1985 Doug Boyd was studying mind-body-spirit medicine and he decided to study native medicine healing among the native people. The man he wanted to talk with, Rolling Thunder, a Native American of Shoshone and Cheyenne heritage, was presenting at a conference on native healing in Montana. He had been asked to demonstrate his healing technique and he agreed to do so if he could find a subject for whom healing was "right."

He asked for volunteers from the audience and interviewed them until he came upon a young man with a very inflamed ankle. When the young man came forward Rolling Thunder asked him why he wanted to be healed. The young man replied, "Because this hurts like fury and drugs haven't stopped the pain."

Rolling Thunder thought about this, then he asked, "But why do you want to be healed?" The young man was taken aback, but he replied, "Because I can't walk or get around very well." Again Rolling Thunder thought about this, then asked again, "Why do you really want to be healed?" The young man reflected for a minute and finally said, "Because my family needs me and the people I serve need me, and with this injury I can't do my part." To which Rolling Thunder responded, "Ah, it's right to heal you."

Your classmate Katherine Torbenson illustrates this principle: that our own mind body spirit healing is always for something greater than ourselves. Our family, our tribe, our community needs us to be well so that all will be well. Kate has admirably dealt with the stresses of being a single parent with a complex and challenging life. At the same time she has gained the respect and admiration of her Physical Therapist Assistant program faculty and classmates because of her "commitment to the values of justice and caring," while evoking a sense of hope in others. She embodies an ethic of care and a commitment to ethical practice.

We believe that Kate and Naimo and Louis represent the qualities present in each of you graduates:

• a spirit of continuous effort, showing up, working together;
• rising to the challenges ahead of you as you have met the challenges now behind you, to make a good life for yourselves and your communities;
• a commitment to something beyond and greater than oneself --a better world for everyone.