Students depart midday today for a two week winter break. As we enjoy time with family and reflect on 2013 before we welcome in 2014, we are reminded how fortunate we are to be involved with a place like Proctor; as an employee, student, parent, or alumni.



Last week, a four-year senior shared with me a note his dad wrote him after attending a dinner with Thomas Friedman and Jeff Immelt. Friedman shared five short takeaways on how to be successful in the future:
1. Think like you have just arrived in this country with nothing: you must be hungry. Never give up. Always optimistic.
2. Think like an artisan: carve your initials in your work every day.
3. Operate like a start-up: you are never finished...always in Beta mode...learn and re-learn every day.
4. Persistence and curiosity is much more important than IQ. Motivation trumps all.
5. Think like a waitress at Perkins Pancake House...bring the extra fruit with the pancakes. This cannot be taught but differentiates you from others.



What a great message for us as we head into the new year. We are fortunate to be where we are today; to be involved in some way with the Proctor community. But we must be careful that this comfort does not create complacency. During a season when so many of us eat too much, we must stay hungry as learners and as educators; hungry for experiences, hungry to be creative, and hungry to constantly better ourselves.

Happy New Year and see you in 2013!