Wintry Wisdom

Late October brings to mind the Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh’s lovely little remembrance of his father in “In Memory of My Father”. Kavanagh’s father kept a small farm and also worked as a cobbler in a small town in the northern part of Ireland. His son Patrick, one of four children, tried to become a cobbler but failed miserably and also worked the farm with a devotional lack of care and a studied incompetence. Nothing was left for him but to become a poet. The poem evokes a late autumn, not one of riotously colored nature and crisp air that almost crackles, but one that beckons winter with its leaden skies, darkening afternoons, and reversing clocks and rain-soaked leaves in mud. I apologize for the sugar-coating prose. In the poem, the poet sees his father in all old men and this phenomenon seems to remind him that to all sons all fathers are sadly a blend of the universal and the unknowable.

In Memory of My Father

Every old man I see
Reminds me of my father
When he had fallen in love with death
One time when sheaves were gathered.

That man I saw in Gardner Street
Stumbled on the kerb was one,
He stared at me half-eyed,
I might have been his son.

And I remember the musician
Faltering over his fiddle
In Bayswater, London,
He too set me the riddle.

Every old man I see
In October-colored weather
Seems to say to me:
"I was once your father."

Patrick Kavanagh 1904-1967

On Monday, during periods 4, 5 & 6, Brandon Hill and Mark Dunkerley '95 from The Oasis Center shared a revelatory presentation that examined the ideas of Agency and Structure in the life of an MBA student, and particularly in the lives of minority students. We were introduced to the idea of agency where an MBA student has control over certain areas of his life such as his resilience, ambition, work ethic, IQ and his self-discipline. These characteristics are valuable assets but may be offset by structural issues, over which he has no control, such as neighborhood, education, economic and family systems. To make matters more complicated, our boys, regardless of economic background, religious denomination, or ethnic origin, are exploring their own specific identity and maybe are trying their best to become the best authentic version of themselves. Such is the boy sitting in front of we teachers in class, and our job is to reach each boy, teach each boy, and help him make the best version of himself before he leaves MBA. Perhaps the best advice Brandon imparted to us was not to ignore difference or tension but to try to understand these things, to begin the conversation. Feedback from this first, introductory session was very positive, and we faculty and staff anticipate more insights into ways to help all of our boys become good men. Thank you Brandon and Mark for an excellent presentation.


-Michael Kelly & Jamie Redmond