“When you’re going down, you can just tuck and roll. It’s so easy. But when you’re going uphill trying to get to a goal, don’t give up. You may take a break. Go slow, go fast. Just don’t stop.”
Chris Dixon
Footwear designer, founder of design organization CNSTNT DVLPMNT
“I said, OK, I want to become the first human being to swim all of Narragansett Bay. I want to do this for the ocean. But I also want people to know that alcoholism and being in recovery is my superpower, and by being sober and taking care of my body and doing all these amazing things, I can still go out in the world and make a difference.”
Ben Tuff
Educator, counselor and ultramarathon swimmer
“When you visit the United States Supreme Court and you look at the pediment over the front doors, you see the phrase ‘Equal Justice Under Law.’ One former justice called that promise the most inspiring ideal in American society. But a sobering fact about American law is that that ideal is unattainable. … The reality is that we will never have enough lawyers to solve the problem of the justice gap — the gap between the huge need for help on behalf of people who are poor and struggling economically for access to civil justice and who’s available to help them.
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Lincoln Caplan
Journalist, legal scholar and educator
“When we think about life and about ecosystems, we tend to think about the things that we can see with our naked eye. I don’t need to persuade you that there’s life on land. You can see it. … But the existence of this third realm of life, what scientists call the aerobiome — it’s taken a long, long time for scientists to really recognize its importance.
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Carl Zimmer
Journalist and author; Richard and Joan S. Strickler Exonian Fund Speaker
“We experience the world with our five senses, and grief is an energy that’s created inside our body on account of our loss. It’s not just the loss of a loved one. It can also be when Andover beats Exeter. It’s just an everyday experience.”
Meghan Jarvis '92
Clinical psychotherapist and author
“Most of the time, [dictators] make dangerous decisions … because being able to come to the most rational conclusion needs being challenged. The more you’re challenged, the more you think, the more you see the other side of the problem. If you’re not challenged, you think you’re always right, and usually you come to the wrong conclusion.”
Nevşin Mengü
Journalist, media expert and digital content creator; Paul Klebnikov ’81 Memorial Speaker
