Changing the World

Lots of students come to William and Mary ready to change the world.  I love that.  Not sure any of us really know how to accomplish the task (it’s a big one), but after many years of observing the enthusiasm I must admit I am glad to be a spectator.  There’s a contagious enthusiasm that meanders through campus at very regular intervals throughout the year.  It’s good for the soul, for the young – and the young at heart – to be part of this sense of possibility.  That’s what it is too.  It’s a sense of the possible and a willingness to reach far and wide to seek it out.  For those that take on the opportunity to explore the possibility with youthful energy college can be among the most personally productive and transformative years in a person’s life.  In some ways college sits as the foundation for a lifetime of possibility.

Some people disregard youthful enthusiasm as naivety and there may be some truth to that.  Naivety is a good thing though.  It gives us all a chance to imagine something better- for ourselves and for our communities- without concern for how we might be wrong. If we do not experiment with the possibility we never arrive at answers.  Sometimes we are right, more often we are a little bit off in our conclusions.  It takes a rally long time to get it right, especially when you are figuring out how to change the world.