Fiat Lux: My Narrative

The first time I heard Chancellor Christ speak, I was sitting in the stands of Haas Pavilion on Charter Day wearing a paper Sather Gate on my head.

She approached the podium following some extremely impressive speakers (including a Nobel laureate, an Olympic Swimmer, and UC President Janet Napolitano) and I had a hunch she was going to be my role model. Chancellor Christ caught my attention when she said she moved out to Berkeley having never been west of Pennsylvania. I thought to myself, “I too moved out to Berkeley having never been west of Pennsylvania! Maybe I can be like Chancellor Christ some day.”

The second time I heard Chancellor Christ speak was at the “Campus Conversations” speaking event at Alumni House. It was then that I discovered that Chancellor Christ was an English major in college. I thought to myself, “I TOO was an English major in college. Okay it’s settled. I can totally be like Chancellor Christ some day.”

I'm a student of English. I'm a big believer in narrative, and how important narratives are. I think Berkeley needs to be spending a lot of time thinking about its story.
Chancellor Carol Christ

As I’ve taken a step back from my fan-girl mindset to reflect on the Campus Conversations discussion, the point that stuck with me the most in her talk was about narrative. “I’m a student of English,” said Christ. “I’m a big believer in narrative, and how important narratives are. I think Berkeley needs to be spending a lot of time thinking about its story.” She went on to explain how our narrative at UC Berkeley needs to be a resilient one, rather than a triumphant one. This got me thinking. Triumph is defined as a great victory or achievement, whereas resilience is defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties… embodying an air of toughness. I thought this distinction was brilliant. While triumphs are important (and the University certainly has many triumphs in its back pocket), resilience shows consistent achievement over time. To me, that’s the sign of excellence. Constant triumph is neither sustainable nor realistic. UC Berkeley’s narrative is a remarkable one, and the reason we are celebrating “150 Years of Light” is because of that commitment to resilience.

In my relatively short time here at the University, I’ve noticed that the values of this institution fuel it’s core mission and goals. UC Berkeley’s guiding values and principles are diversity, excellence, innovation, public mission, and accountability/transparency (read more here). I’ve also noticed the commitment of campus leadership, stemming from Chancellor Christ, to achieve our goals by leading with a sense of cautious optimism. It’s important to maintain that optimism and use the positive trends of our narrative as proof that we can overcome any challenge thrown our way. But we must also keep in mind that progress is not inevitable- we must consciously feed those momentums.

I felt these points were so applicable to working as an employee of UC Berkeley. We’re coming out of some harder times, but our narrative gives us optimism. In order to overcome the inevitable challenges that arise, Chancellor Christ is very conscious of the need for change with the times. Things then are not the same as they are now.  Chancellor Christ explained how in this day and age, there needs to be more than one string to your bow in order to be successful in our world today. (Quick side note: I had never heard this expression before and first thought she said “more than one string in your bowl.” Thankfully Google was able to both correct and educate me on this one!)

Chancellor Christ and Maddy

As the Campus Conversation wrapped up, I was feeling confident in Berkeley and personally inspired. I found myself booking it out of Alumni House and jogging with Brianna, my coworker and friend, to catch up with Chancellor Christ. Brianna convinced me that this was the perfect chance for me to introduce myself (and also a photo-op for Bear With Me). Chancellor Christ kindly obliged us two, out of breath, young professionals with her approachable and personable aura. Role models are people who tap into our values and inspire us to be better. As a young professional just starting my career, it’s motivating to listen to someone so accomplished and down to earth within my own organization. Inspired by Chancellor Christ, I want to contribute to the UC Berkeley narrative, perhaps starting small but always working hard with high hopes and big dreams.  

PS. I’m still working on stringing my bow.