Inspiring People who Make a Difference

“It is difficult to say what is impossible,
for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today
and the reality of tomorrow.”
(Robert H. Goddard, pioneering rocket scientist)

Don’t you feel inspired by people who in the midst of terrible emotional or physical pain or seemingly insurmountable obstacles or hardship, achieve positive change through their own actions? Rather than wallow in self pity, which would be perfectly understandable in the circumstances, they manage to pull themselves out of their despair and act to make changes, not only to themselves but for others around them and in some cases can effect change on a global scale. It seems as though some people have this amazing capacity to rise above it all and harness all of their energy to bring about good in the face of adversity and unbelievable sadness.

Inspirational people like internationally renowned psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl who survived years in a concentration camp during the Holocaust, wrote a book, ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’, which chronicles his experiences in Auschwitz and how different individuals coped in such traumatic circumstances. As you might imagine, some never got over the shock of the experience, others became apathetic and conditioned to the appalling conditions and the constant fear of death, others become bitter and disillusioned but there were others, only a few, who were able to rise above the depersonalisation and horror, by comforting other inmates, giving away their last piece of bread that they had to another inmate. Frankl writes that while all of our possessions can be taken from us, the last one human freedom that can’t be taken from us is our attitude to what happens to us. He famously wrote in this surprisingly uplifting book:

“When we can no longer change a situation,
we are challenged to change ourselves.”

Recently I had the opportunity to listen to an inspirational speaker, Stephen Lewis a former Canadian Leader of the Opposition, who amongst other things, became a Humanitarian Ambassador for the United Nations, and has been a very vocal advocate for the eradication of HIV Aids, which he claims could happen if more developed countries put more medicine, and more time and effort into achieving this goal. He has seen some of the most tragic consequences of civil war in Rwanda and appalling outcomes of AIDs in Africa. He is a passionate speaker who speaks of first-hand experience of the dreadful consequences of neglecting this epidemic in Africa.

As Lewis argues, the world surely has enough resources and the wherewithal to bring about positive change in the life of people in less developed countries, as this 1998 report from the United Nations on Human Development demonstrates:

“The world has more than enough resources to accelerate progress in human development for all and to eradicate the worst forms of poverty from the planet. Advancing human development is not an exorbitant undertaking. For example, it has been estimated that the total additional yearly investment required to achieve universal access to basic social services would be roughly $40 billion, 0.1% of world income, barely more than a rounding error. That covers the bill for basic education, health, nutrition, reproductive health, family planning, and safe water and sanitation for all.”
(United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report, 1998)

Lewis has been to many of the poorest countries; countries torn apart by internal strife, war and devastation. In spite of the hardships, Lewis commented upon the spirit of the people to rebuild their lives and their country. After two years study of children in conflict (in countries such as Rwanda, Uganda and Somalia), Lewis found that the one thing that children and parents wanted most of all, was school, because school would allow the children’s lives to return to some sense of normality, and the healing process, after all that the children had witnessed, would begin. As a result, Lewis has been able to lobby western governments to provide much needed educational resources after the conflict has ended. He has made a real difference to this world.

Some countries are not torn apart by warfare but rather by natural disasters. In January, 2010, the small island of Haiti was reduced to rubble by a massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake, killing over 100,000 people. Emergency housing, mainly in the form of tents, was sent to the small island. Thousands of lives were affected, and thousands of children lost not only family and homes but also lost their schools.

On hearing the plight of the children in Haiti, one young Queensland university student, Chris Eigeland, with the help of two other young people put out a request via FaceBook to garner help from businesses and young people around the world, to raise funds to supply books and stationery for the schools and children of Haiti. Incredibly, these three young people joined forces to bring the books and stationery to the children in Haiti – a massive effort requiring military precision – to supply all schools with the much needed equipment. They personally packed the boxes and delivered them to delighted children and teachers in every school location in Haiti. What a truly inspiring story of hope for the future, where young people can effect global change through social media and a simple call to action.

As a school community our own young people are developing a strong social conscience too. Over the last year, many students have approached me and taken on projects that have raised money, or specific needs that have benefited the local community and beyond – places like the Solomon Islands, East Timor, Kenya, Sudan and Nepal. I congratulate all of the students involved in these projects for what they have achieved. For example, students have given assistance to the flood victims earlier this year, CanTeen, Give Me Five for Kids, the Daniel Morcombe Foundation, 40 Hour Famine, Breast Cancer – Pink October, to name but a few.

We can be very proud of our students and recently I received an email from Greg Bradley from World Vision, Australia telling us that because of our magnificent fund raising efforts for the 40 Hour Famine this year, that Caloundra City Private School will be receiving a World Vision, Outstanding Achievement Award, which is a fitting tribute to the students and staff involved in this project.

The School is now offering a Certificate II in Volunteering which will better educate our young people about the benefits of helping others and CCPS will be one of the very first schools to offer this program. This Certificate will see our Senior students volunteering in the community and making a real difference to the wider community. Thinking of others before ourselves and giving back to people less fortunate than ourselves is one way that society can effect positive change for the better. Yes, we can all take action and do this if we set our minds and hearts to this goal.

George Bernard Shaw wrote many years ago:
“Some people see things as they are and ask why not.
Others dream things that never were and ask why not.”

Yes, we really can turn the dream of hope for the future into a reality today.

Karon Graham

Principal

Tale of Two Men - Jobs and Steinman

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything ahead of us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…..”
(Charles Dickens, “Tale of Two Cities”)

Sometimes we hear bad news and without consciously thinking about it, remember exactly what we were doing and where we were at the time we heard the news. I still remember exactly where I was as a child when JF Kennedy was assassinated, and later when Princess Diana died and the 9/11 attacks on New York brought America to its knees. For some reason these events stick in our mind for most of our lives.

Last week I was shocked when I read that Steve Jobs had died, however; I can’t say that I even heard when Dr Ralph Steineman died, let alone who he was, yet they both died within the same week. Much was written about Steve Jobs and his accomplishments and in stark contrast the cell biologist Dr Ralph Steinman may have passed away in some obscurity in the world’s collective mind, had it not been for a major announcement the following week.

Both men were brilliant and highly successful in their respective fields; very different fields – one in technology and the other in biology. Both were innovative and creative thinkers - light years ahead of their peers, but for very different reasons. Steve Jobs was responsible for revolutionising technology (and some say the 21st century) through his inventions of the most amazing devices - Apple MacBooks, iPads, and iPhones, while the other man, Dr Ralph Steinman revolutionised the field of immunology by discovering a new cell, that would change how we treat cancer and many other life threatening diseases. Both men died at the peak of their lives and within a week of one another and surprisingly, both men died of pancreatic cancer after long fought battles with the disease.

Both men took very different pathways in their lives. Steve Jobs dropped out of one of the most prestigious colleges after six months because he didn’t want his parents to use their life savings to pay for his college education when he couldn’t see the value in continuing his college course, since he wasn’t learning anything new in technology. (His parents had adopted him as a baby and promised Steve’s biological mother that they would send him to college.) Jobs continued to attend some classes that he thought were valuable though, and slept on the floor of mates’ dorm rooms to save on the cost of accommodation.

Steinman on the other hand, took the academic route, by continuing his study at McGill University and the prestigious Harvard Medical School and then onto the equally famous Rockefeller University. Steinman’s only blimp was at the tender age of seven years, when in the face of being sent to Summer Camp by his parents, a strident Steinman packed his bag and ran away from home. His short lived sojourn came to an abrupt end when the milkman spied him in town and alerted his parents of his attempted escape. Just think, if that milkman had not spotted Steinman, he may never have gone to university and discovered the dendritic cell that was to be one of the most important breakthroughs in our understanding of immunology.

Life was not always a bowl of cherries for either man. Steve Jobs, a self-made millionaire at twenty three years of age was fired from the very company he founded when he was 30 years of age and suffered great humiliation at the exit from his brainchild company. Jobs later told students of Stanford University that this was probably one of the best things that ever happened to him in his life. Why? In Jobs own words:

“The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. During the next five years, I started a company NeXT, and another company named Pixar, which went on to create the world’s first computer animated feature film. Toy Story.”

Many years later in 1997, Jobs returned to Apple and almost single-handedly turned the declining fortunes of the company around to create an astounding success story. Steve Jobs is acknowledged as one of the greatest inventors of our time, with over 4000 patents in his name at the time of his death.

Steinman, like Jobs, also suffered similar humiliation. After years of research that resulted in him identifying a new immune cell – the dendritic cell – many scientists were sceptical of his findings, simply because his experiments were so difficult to replicate. It was many years after his discovery, that improvements in technology enabled his findings to be confirmed and he was vindicated.

The immune system is very complex and many of us don’t give a second thought to how our immune system is constantly on alert, attacking bacteria, viruses and parasites, yes, even while we watch television. Different types of cells have different jobs to do in fighting foreign invaders in our bodies. The dendritic cells that Steinman discovered, devour these intruders and help activate the rest of the immune system and also filter body fluids to clear them of foreign organisms and particles. While others questioned his findings, Dr Ralph Steinman never once doubted the significance of his discovery or the implications of the dendritic cell to fight life threatening diseases such as AIDs, tuberculosis and cancer.

In a sad and ironic twist, Canadian Dr. Ralph M. Steinman was named one of three winners of the 2011 Nobel Prize for Medicine for his life work on the human immune response on the Monday, three days after he died in Manhattan at 68 years. This fact was unknown to the Nobel Prize committee when it made its announcement.

Steinman was a humble man who gave little thought or care to awards presented to him and much to the chagrin of his family, often told them well after the event. One can’t help but think though, that Steinman would have been just a little proud of winning the Nobel Prize had he lived to hear the news. It’s surely a measure of a great man that he put so little value on these acknowledgements and awards during his life, and thought only, of how he might benefit people, through his research by finding a cure or treatment to eradicate diseases such as cancer.

What lessons can we learn from these two brilliant men? For our students, the message is clear. There is no one way to find success and happiness in life. There is no easy way to achieve what we want to in this life and sometimes we have to persevere with steadfast determination in the face of opposition or even ridicule. .Most importantly for us all to contemplate, is that our time on earth is limited, so we should make the very most of every single day – never waste a day or let an opportunity pass. Life is too short.

Steve Jobs was very reflective about his life, and in his address to students at Stanford in 2005 he made this sage comment to his audience:

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward – you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.”

Put simply:
 Find your passion in life – never be complacent with your ‘lot in life’
 Follow your dreams
 Never, ever give up on them, even when experts tell you, “You’re wrong” or “It can’t be done.”
 Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb for what you believe; and
 Keep the faith, stay true to your vision.

Karon Graham

Greatest Genius of all Time

“All our knowledge
has its origin
in our perceptions.”
(Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519)

Who was the greatest genius ever? Buzan and Keene, (1994), authors of “The Book of Genius – and how you can become one”, rated the greatest geniuses of history, by : originality, versatility, dominance in their field, universality of vision and strength and energy - an interesting array of categories to say the least. The diversity of these criteria demonstrates that genius can’t be ranked or captured by one single measure.

So who were the greatest geniuses of all time according to Buzan and Keene? Starting in ascending order at number ten was Albert Einstein, then Phidias (architect of ancient Athens), Alexander the Great, Thomas Jefferson, Sir Isaac Newton, Michelangelo, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the great Pyramid Builders, William Shakespeare and coming in at number one, as the greatest genius of all time, was Leonardo da Vinci.

Fifteenth century painter, sculptor, scientist, architect and visionary, Leonardo da Vinci was an extraordinary man by anyone’s definition. He had an intense curiosity, an insatiable inquisitiveness about all manner of things. His desire to understand how things worked led him to ask confounding questions all of his life. The width and depth of his knowledge and his life- long quest to uncover the secrets of a wide range of topics, as diverse as natural world, flight, science, weapons, art, astronomy, human anatomy and the daily experiences of the world around him, was unparalleled.

In his ground-breaking book, “Think Like Da Vinci”, author, personal and organisational development expert, Michael J. Gelb writes at length about Da Vinci’s life and his genius – his achievements in art, his inventions, his skill as a military engineer, his work as a scientist in anatomy, botany, geology, and physics. Gelb notes that two of the greatest paintings ever produced were Leonardo’s Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He was a renowned sculptor and architect too.

Leonardo was incredibly innovative and is credited for making plans for a flying machine, helicopter, parachute and hundreds of other amazing inventions, all recorded meticulously in his journals, which totalled over 7000 pages and estimated to be closer to 14,000 pages at the time of his death. Interestingly, Leonardo wrote all of these notes backward and they were designed to be read in a mirror and much speculation continues to this day about why Leonardo did this. Don’t you think this amazing? Why is it so?

What makes Leonardo so extraordinary? According to Gelb, Leonardo’s incredible inquisitiveness led him on a life- long quest for knowledge about every conceivable concept. He questioned everything and developed a systematic and rigorous investigative approach to his study. For example, not content with drawing his anatomical dissections from one perspective, Leonardo drew them from three different perspectives. Yes it’s true to say that Leonardo was a perfectionist when it came to detail – whether it was in his study of flight of birds, or in his artistic achievements - he was rigorous in every aspect of his investigative studies and drawings.

Gelb identifies seven “Da Vincian Principles” which could easily be used and applied by every person today. The key words were originally Italian but I have loosely translated these with the meaning conveyed by the descriptions of each of Gelb’s, Seven Principles of da Vinci.

• Curiosity – an insatiable curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning.
• Demonstration – a commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes (even da Vinci made many mistakes along the way).
• Sensation – the continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven experience.
• Ambiguity – a willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox and uncertainty.
• Artistic and scientific balance – the development of a balance between science and art, logic and imagination, or ‘whole brain’ thinking.
• Grace and poise – the cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness and poise.
• Interconnectedness – the recognition of and appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena or ‘systems’ thinking.

I list these principles of thinking because many of us who are in total awe of Leonardo’s intellect, seriously doubt that we could ever emulate his outstanding, ‘off the scale’ intellectual capacity. How could any of us mere mortals compare or aspire to be like Leonardo da Vinci? (Some of you may be even thinking at this point, “You have to be joking”.) Surprisingly though, many experts, including Leonardo, would argue that while fifty percent of our intellectual power is genetic, the other fifty percent is due to our own environmental circumstances and our willingness to expand and develop our level of thinking and our intellectual capacity.

What resonates most for me in reading Gelb’s book and Leonardo’s biography, was the rigorous questioning of even the smallest detail by Leonardo and his search for answers; his insatiable thirst for knowledge and understanding. All of us, including our inquisitive children, learn by asking questions and by exploring the possibilities of our imaginative and creative thinking.

In a time of instant information, have we somehow lost this capacity to think creatively and to think ‘outside the box’? My challenge to all teachers this term has been to “Imagine, Inspire, Innovate and Implement”. Not only do educators - and all adults for that matter - need to imagine more, inspire more, innovate more and implement more. We need to create a culture where our young people are confident to question the status quo and explore new possibilities. Surely this is the essence of education – to learn from those who have gone before us and to ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’ so that we might continue to learn and add to the knowledge and wisdom of the world in which we live.

As Gelb so eloquently notes:

“The essence of Leonardo’s legacy is the inspiration for wisdom and light to triumph over fear and darkness. In his never-ending quest for truth and beauty, art and science were married through the ministry of experience and perception.”

What finer quest can there be?

Karon Graham
Principal CCPS