̽��¥

Scott Simon, host of NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, whose latest book, Unforgettable, just debuted on the New York Times bestsellers list, kicked off the ̽��¥ Annual Meeting with a intimate plenary speech sharing some of the lessons learned from his career. From Sarajevo to Calcutta, Simon said, he has seen “the magnificence of the human soul bloom in places where you might least expect to find any kind of magnificence.”

For Simon, exposure to the lessons of loss, grief and hope began when he was a student working as a case aide in a home for mentally challenged adults on Chicago’s North Side. There, he learned that the patients who had meaningful work, not just therapeutic goals, were more satisfied with their day-to-day lives. From his experience, Simon said, this is true for all of us—that, “At the end of the day, we want to be useful.”

“In an age that is so relentlessly measured and defined by polemics and metrics—which I don’t have to tell you,” Simon said, eliciting a laugh from the packed crowd of higher education professionals, “We need to stay open to discovery, surprise and even accident. Because real life can shatter certainties like a delicate cup in a tornado.”

Building on the stories of the men who lived in that home, Simon insisted that to be fulfilled, each of us needs a challenge, a character-building experience that requires persistence—and even failure—not just easy successes.

“What we can guarantee ourselves is that we keep learning,” he concluded. “Be inconsistent, have faith in doubts. Question; don’t cling to conviction. And let real life in.