The freshman convocation for the graduating class of 2020 featured Ellen Forney, the illustrator who worked in partnership with Sherman Alexie to bring life into his book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. Upon entering, general consensus exhibited a mass of fatigued, stressed out, nearly lifeless bodies serving as an audience.
When Ms. Forney walked on stage, however, the usual dull lull of conversation halted. She looked interesting – very different from other presenters. Forney wasn’t dressed in business casual attire, and she did not sport a look of stern, condescending all-knowingness. Rather, she wore jeans, and she boasted an expression of appreciative wonder. She immediately became more relatable than every other presenter we’d seen so far. The second she opened her mouth to speak, she was no longer an adult that we were being forced to listen to. She morphed instantaneously into a fellow victim of pain, stress, and life in general. This was the person we wanted to listen to.
Forney talked about her struggles with bipolar disorder, and she poured her heart out on stage in the best way possible. She gave the entire freshman student body insight into her mind, and the life of Ellen Forney suddenly became a life we related to. Her success story became one we wanted to emulate. Forney unknowingly lifted thousands of tons off the shoulders of unsuspecting college students.
So, my fellow honors students, the freshman convocation is NOT as awful as you all may at first perceive. When dragging yourself out of your Netflix-induced stupor and trudging out your bedroom door to go to your honors event, hope you are lucky enough to hear from someone like Ellen Forney.