Craig Mullaney, award-winning author of “The Unforgiving Minute,” challenged the Class of 2017 to answer a question in Tuesday’s freshman convocation.
The question, which he said many others had asked him, was, “What do we do now, sir?”
Mullaney, an entrepreneur who previously served in the U.S. Army, drew from educational experiences in both the classroom and the field to impart a “fundamental philosophy of responsibility.”
Emphasizing the importance of an education’s ability to cultivate perseverance, Mullaney recalled boxing while attending West Point and losing every graded boxing match while still earning a B-minus mark.
“I realized that the reason they had us box, is that almost everyone is bad at it,” Mullaney said. “You’re likely to get hit, and knocked, and rattled. They don’t want to turn you into a great boxer, they want to turn you into someone who is going to get back up – they’re teaching resilience.
“The challenge of education is to prepare you to seek out failure, and to become more resilient from it,” Mullaney said.
Mullaney stated that through his experiences in education and the field, he has learned the importance of ambiguity.
“West Point taught me how to answer questions efficiently,” Mullaney said, comparing the structure of the military academy to the freedom of self-directed study at Oxford University.
“No one was giving me guidance on what to do next at Oxford,” Mullaney said. “Look for that gift here.”
Reflecting on the sentiments expressed by Mullaney, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Brandi Hephner LaBanc urged students to consider change as an opportunity to grow.
“College is a place where you have to shed yourself of old groups and old thoughts and be open to filling your mind with different ideas and meeting different people,” Hephner LaBanc said. “If we can figure out what motivates others, it just may change what we think about who they are and what they are doing – slowing down to talk and look at one another allows us to connect.”
Chancellor Dan Jones commented that the evening was a perfect start to the academic year.
“It is simply good to have our students hear this inspirational talk tonight and good for them to get off to a good start here at Ole Miss,” Jones said.
