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Pamela Melroy's Address to Wellesley's
Graduating Class of 1998
Thank you so much for inviting me to share this special
day with you. It was fifteen years ago when I sat in your
seat; and I'm wondering how many of you are hiding a bottle
of champagne under your robe to share, just like I did.
Fifteen years ago, I listened to Susan Sontag advise my
class to "be bold". Excellent advice, although if she had
known me personally she probably would have advised me to
"be mellow!" And fifteen years ago, an unspoken dream
arrived in my heart -- that someday I would prove
sufficiently worthy to future fellow Wellesley alumnae that
they would ask me to share to this moment with them. Thank
you, for making this dream come true for me. I would hope
that at least some of you are imagining that also. To you, I
look forward to seeing your dream come true, as mine has,
and I hope that your experience is as wonderful as mine has
been.
A dream come true - do dreams imply weakness? I think
they imply strength. Dreams are a subject of considerable
interest to me, because of the twists and turns of my own.
What is my definition of a dream? It's a vision -- a goal
which is not a foregone conclusion. It is an imagination of
yourself in a situation which you might barely comprehend
now, but somehow yearn for. It is a true reflection of who
you are - what you value, what your strengths are, and (for
some of us) what weaknesses you most wish to overcome. By
its very nature, no one can dream a dream for you, or limit
your dream; only you can say who you are, and what you
imagine your highest fulfillment as a person to be.
You may have heard: hold fast to your dreams. Also good
advice, but I would remind you that because they are a
reflection of who you are, it's OK if your dreams change
with time. As you grow and change, so your dreams will also
transform and mature. Now, you might be thinking: if I
dreamed of being an astronaut when I was 11 years old, and
never changed my mind, does that mean I haven't grown up?
Absolutely! At various points, I did review and test my
dream. But the sense of wonder at the universe, the desire
to learn about the way things work, and the yearning to do
something I believe to be of great value to all human beings
- no, you can call me Peter Pan, but I haven't grown out of
any of that yet. You may also discover a dream so true to
your own soul that you will never grow out of it, either.
But what is important is the dream, not how long you've had
it. As you journey through life, the overall landscape of
your dreams will change all the time.
There is another aspect of dreams; they are not just an
internal joy and a description of who you are and what you
believe. They are also your road map to life. Life is a
journey, not a destination; why choose the next town over
for the trip of your life, when you've always wanted to see
Paris? Small goals are important to have as well, for they
mark distance traveled and lessons learned, but think big
for at least a few of your dreams! The more magical and
foreign your destination is, the more rewarding and
educational your journey will be.
I learned this lesson several years ago, when I was a
test pilot, very close to achieving my lifelong dream of
being an astronaut. Now, life's lessons are funny things -
most of them are understood through quiet reflection and
review. Others hit you with all the subtlety of a train
wreck. My train wreck occurred when, for a period of about a
year, I was suddenly medically disqualified from applying to
be an astronaut. The circumstances aren't important, but
when I finally poked my head up above the wreckage and
surveyed the damage, my greatest comfort was this
realization. Given my personal self-image years earlier, I
would never have just decided to be a test pilot; it was my
dream of flying in space that took me there. And I really,
really loved my job - I was born to do it. And I never would
have found it if I hadn't aimed for space. Shortly after
this realization, with the pieces put back together and
happily reinstated on my journey, I reached a bend in the
road. And around the bend was my old dream, now ready and
waiting for me.
So in your life's journey, there will be excitement and
fulfillment, boredom and routine, and even the occasional
train wreck. The valleys are hard, when the next mile marker
is out of sight, and it looks all uphill from here. But when
you have picked a dream that is bigger than you personally,
that truly reflects the ideals that you cherish, and that
can positively affect others, then you will always have
another reason for carrying on. Being a part of the American
space research program and building the new International
Space Station for me means being a part of a dream for our
future, and for our children's future. This conviction has
made the three year wait for my first mission assignment fly
by in pleasure instead of anxiety.
Now, as Anais Nin said, "Our life is composed greatly
from dreams, and they must be brought into connection with
action. They must be woven together." Action is the movement
that takes us from where we are now, toward our dreams.
Maybe you realize this already, but it wasn't obvious to me
until later what help toward our dreams Wellesley gives all
of us. The environment here gives women a place to dream
without being restricted or blinded by culturally generated
limits. When I went to Wellesley, every single science major
I knew was a woman. After living in this world for four
years, the idea that women are not interested in or good at
math and science seemed ludicrous to the point that I was
not angry when I heard it later. I was merely embarrassed
for the foolishness of the speaker, and glad for an
opportunity to educate them. There ARE no limits except
those that you perceive, and Wellesley gives the great gift
of freedom to see clearly. This gift has been so important
to the success of my dream to fly in space that I have
decided to carry some token of Wellesley into space with me
when I fly next year. I don't know what it will be, yet, but
I look forward to seeing our beautiful campus from space,
and returning this token afterwards, and to share the story
of my experience.
But there is more; your Wellesley education has provided
you with something else as well as the permission to look
clearly at yourself. I simply can't miss the opportunity to
use a physics analogy that I have seen to be true in the
world of human interaction as well as the physical world -
the principle of momentum. What is momentum? It is defined
as mass times velocity. In a way, it's a measure of how hard
it is to stop something. I have observed that small
successes lead to larger ones - that project you worked late
on results in "Employee of the Month." The next project that
you excel at, plus Employee of the Month, becomes the
Employee of the Year. That award in turn leads you to the
job with greater responsibility. With each success you
become harder to stop. In this equation, the mass is YOU,
your mind, your heart, your will, and your talents, which
will continue to grow as you learn.
Velocity is defined as speed, plus its direction. Those
dreams of your will provide you with the direction. And
Wellesley has given you speed! Your degree is a huge
professional success, the first big one for many of us. It
is impressive and greatly valued by employers and graduate
schools, as many of you know already. It will provide you
with your first push. Work hard, and watch the speed build.
It all starts right here. Let me put it to you in another
way: you're on a roll!
And whatever your dreams are -- whether it is to parent
or nurture the next Mother Teresa, to teach and to guide the
next Georgia O'Keeffe, or to be the next Marie Curie, I
congratulate you on a wonderful start - you go, girl!
Wellesley College: Providing an excellent
liberal arts education for women who will make a difference
in the world.
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