Magazine - summer 03 - St. John's College

{Commencement}
25
david trozzo
No college can ensure the future happiness
or success of its graduates, but it
can endow them with something of
immeasurable value: the ability to wonder,
Allen said. To illustrate her point,
she told about inviting a colleague, a
biologist, to a meeting of a Chicago
parks and recreation advisory board on
which she serves—a group often rent by
contentious arguments. The biologist’s
presentation on birds and other wildlife
in the park gave the group “an opportunity
to pursue knowledge for its own
sake,” along with a chance to discuss
something that didn’t require a vote or a
stance.
“The pleasure of knowledge is as real
as the pleasures of the body,” she
explained. “I saw it there in that room,
in a group of argumentative people
joined in a variety of expressions of
pleasure from wonder satisfied. This
pleasure was much easier to identify in
that meeting than in a college classroom,
because of the palpable difference from
what we council members were accustomed
to in our exchanges.”
Practical matters such as food, clothing,
and shelter can overwhelm us, but
the “cause of wonder” has a restorative
effect that will see us through crises and
lead us to new sources of strength, she
said. “Wonder sets us back on our heels
and helps us turn in a new direction.”
At the conclusion of her address,
Allen returned to Simonides 521 and
read the poem to her audience again.
It is not a poem of despair, she noted.
“In the midst of reflecting on the alarmingly
unpredictable nature of change,
the speaker of the poem marvels at the
speed and beauty of dragonflies,” Allen
said. “The poem is itself an example of
what it means to draw on the resources
of wonder to sustain oneself even as one
confronts necessity.” x
Above, Annapolis graduates Jackson
O’Brien, Kelly O’Donnell, John Okrent,
and Erin Page.
At left, Annapolis graduate Sarah
Stickney and her father, Santa Fe tutor
Cary Stickney (A75), celebrate.
{ The College • St. John’s College • Fall 2004 }