Horace Walpole first coined the word "serendipity" in 1754. It was taken from the title of a silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip: as their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of.
By sagacity and perhaps a few accidents, we of the class of 2002 are graduating from Tufts. Instead of thinking about college as something we are in, college is now something we have done.
I often trace the numerous little chances and coincidences that brought me to Tufts, and the many small but significant contingencies that brought me here today: the admissions people who took a chance on me, the crazy rule that does not let you double major and minor (creating a perverse incentive to triple major), deciding on a whim to study abroad in Ireland and Washington DC, and of course the Institute for Global Leadership - one of the finest educational institutions at Tufts or anywhere.
I did not plan ahead for any of these, yet each profoundly shaped my last four years. Strange as it seems, any given path in life is a bizarre and unlikely coincidence of numerous factors completely beyond our control.
It is tempting to think we are each masters of our own destinies, choosing a sound and safe plan after examining all the options and weighing all the costs and benefits. Yet how often is this really the case? All the most interesting things in life seem to be unplanned for, and all of us are given at some point the opportunity to do something truly innovative - to really make a difference.
Like surfing, you can wait and wait for the perfect wave to ride. You prepare and train and watch the tides and swells until everything, or at least most things, look just right. Though even on the perfect day, the perfect wave may never come. So you wait, watch and try again tomorrow.
Yet somehow, with patience and openness, it seems to all work out. That is serendipity. Serendipity is what gets you where you need to go, despite (or because of) all the accidents along the way. Serendipity is what allows us to make upsets into opportunities. Then once you seize one of these chance opportunities, once you catch the wave, that is when training and preparation pay off. That is where Tufts comes in.
The real value of a liberal arts education is not in any specific discipline but rather the ability to think critically, to communicate effectively and to organize (though, sadly, not how to act ethically). It
is hard to comprehend the knowledge and skills you get through Tufts because they become internalized. Yet they are the basic prerequisites for making a difference in the world.
So you need both: the openness to serendipity and the training in critical thought and effective action. Without the openness, you are never willing to risk taking a change of course and without the preparation, you cannot capitalize on the opportunities you find. Yet even these are not enough.
Ultimately, we need someone to take a chance on us we need someone who believes in us. For me, that has been several teachers. It is hard to overstate their role in helping me find my passions and work towards my goals. They, more than anything else, have defined my time here.
So that was what I learned at Tufts: thinking critically, acting and communicating effectively, and being open to serendipity. Everything else is a detail.
