Best Writing Advice I’ve Ever Heard

AMERICAN PRIDE

JFK’S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60’s when DeGaulle decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaulle said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible. Rusk responded, “Does that include those who are buried here?”

DeGaulle did not respond. You could have heard a pin drop.

When in England, at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of ‘empire building’ by George Bush.

He answered by saying, “Over the years, the United States has sent many of Its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for In return is enough to bury those that did not

return.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, One of the French engineers came back into the room saying, “Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do, bomb them?” A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: “Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to

shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships. How many does France have?”

You Could have heard a pin drop.

A U.S. Navy admiral was attending a naval conference that included admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French

navies at a cocktail reception. He found himself standing with a large group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks when a

French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, “Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than

speaking French?” Without hesitating, the American admiral replied, “Maybe it’s because the Brit’s, Canadians, Aussie’s and Americans arranged it so you wouldn’t have to speak German.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE…

Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. “You have been to France before, monsieur?” the customs officer asked

sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. “Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.” The American said, “The last time I was here, I didn’t have to show it.” “Impossible. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France !” The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, “Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn’t find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

If You are proud to be an American, pass this on! I am proud to be an American!

Recently, I have been reflecting a lot about myself and my personal growth from the past year. This year was tough for me, academically and personally. And many, many, many things have not gone my way. So, I uh, I have kind of failed a lot this year? I think I have failed more in this past year than in the previous nineteen years of my life. I failed at my new job, I almost failed calculus, my grades have struggled all year long, I had to withdraw from my summer class, etc. As hard as this year has been, I definitely think I am a better person now that I am on the other side of it. I am so much stronger than I was June 29th of last year. I have had to grown up a lot, and learned some “big girl” lessons. So here are my thoughts on dealing with failure, in school and just in life in general,  and how to tackle all the messy emotions that come along with it. 

1.) Remember: college is a tough environment. 

Most of my friends and acquaintances are all tirelessly working towards some impressive end goal (graduating, getting into med school, getting an internship). Many of my friends are also in hard programs, and must be at top performance at all times. I attend a competitive university, and so it really does seem like EVERYONE has their life together. Everyone I know has big dreams/goals/plans. We are all trying SO damn hard to succeed at our respective fields, and it can be hard to always be around successful, overachieving friends. Most of the time it is great– I have a great support system and I love to see all the great things my friends are doing…but

It can be so hard to not compare. It’s hard when everyone seems to have everything working out for them, and I don’t. Especially when I feel as though I put in an equal amount of effort. It is important to remember that first of all, it is impressive that you are even in college. You would not have gotten accepted into your university if you could not have handled the work. It is important to remember in school, that everyone goes through their struggles. Some struggles are just more apparent than others. 

2.) It’s okay to not be perfect. 

I know this can sound cheesy, but it is true. I struggle with perfectionism. I always feel like I need to be in top performance mode for school, but somedays, I just can’t be. I get tired, or sad, discouraged and stressed, just the same as everyone does. You aren’t a robot, and you can’t just go-go-go without stopping. Sometimes to you need to stop and take a break. It is okay to rest. Resting is not quitting. It is not failure. 

3.) Reflect and learn from what happened…then MOVE ON. 

I honestly think this is the most important point. It’s very important to look back on your past mistakes and think “What could I have done differently?”…Could I have studied more effectively? Could I have started planning earlier? Could I have been a better friend? Use your failures to your advantage– learn something from them. This is how you better yourself. 

However, after wallowing in self-pity, and dwelling on whatever happened, move on. It is now in the past. It is done. It is hard to not be hard on yourself. Nobody is perfect. No one should expect you to be perfect, and you should not expect that of others. 

4.) Failure is necessary.

Failure is the scary part about “putting yourself out there,” in every aspect of life. But, it does make you a tougher person. I have failed a lot in my life, but I can say with confidence that I have more grit than pretty much anyone else I know. I throw myself at my goals, but only get the desired results half the time. That is life. Life is not fair. I have such a steadfast grasp on what I want to do with my life, and I refuse to let any obstacle overcome that. My failures have made me realize how badly I want to achieve my dreams. If you are not comfortable with failing, then you are going to miss out on a lot of life experiences. It’s going to happen to you, no one is immune. 

Well, I hope anything I said comforts at least one person. If anyone else out there isn’t having the best time, remember: it’s okay. You are doing enough just by trying. Go do great things, friends. 

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Pride 2021: Pauli Murray

Pauli Murray was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1910. He was assigned female at birth, and felt his gender was only understood by a few people, who, in his own words “accept me pretty much as one of nature’s experiments, a girl who should’ve been a boy, and react to me as if I were a boy”. After discovering the works of pioneering sexologists such as Magnus Hirschfeld and Havelock Ellis, Pauli began to consider taking testosterone. Unfortunately, the lack of understanding of trans people by the medical community meant that his efforts to access hormones failed.

Pauli graduated from college in 1933, one of four black students in a class of 232. After being rejected from further study at the University of North Carolina on account of his race, he became involved with the NAACP, and eventually returned to university to study law, graduating top of his class in 1944.

During his time at university Pauli pioneered a new strategy of fighting racial segregation through protesting its unconstitutionality, which would eventually be successfully used in the 1954 landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled the segregation of public schools unconstitutional.

Pauli passed the bar exam in California in 1945 and began working as a lawyer. He focused his work on fighting for civil rights and women’s rights, and wrote on intersectionality, pioneering the concept of “Jane Crow” to explain to dual oppression experienced by African-American people assigned female at birth. He also penned States’ Laws on Race and Color - a foot-thick book referred to as the Bible of civil rights legislators.

1973 Pauli’s partner Renee passed away from a brain tumour. Following this, Pauli, who had always been Episcopalian, began to study to join the priesthood -  although people assigned female at birth could not be admitted at the time. He finished his coursework in 1976, and in 1977, when people assigned female at birth were allowed to become Episcopalian priests for the first time. Pauli was ordained, becoming the first black person assigned female at birth to do so.

Pauli passed away in 1985, aged 74. His groundbreaking legal theories and ideas about intersectionality remain as important today as they were over 50 years ago.

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