Marina Keegan (1989-2012) ---- “Self-starting cornucopia”

We are inspired in our life by our parents, teachers, colleagues and friends. Sometimes strangers also inspire us. We are not satisfied and we search for gurus and get inspired by their discourses or books. I am not an exception to all this. A few days back on the 13^th of April, 2014, I read a short article about Marina Keegan. The title read “Students Last works challenge a nation.”  The title I am sure even you would not have missed if you are a subscriber to this paper. I decided to probe and goggled seeking more information about her. Whatever I have gathered I decided to share with you. ……because I got inspired…..you also need to.

Fate was very brutal to Marina Keegan. Five days after her graduation from the Yale University in 2012 she met with a car accident and passed away. She was just 22 then but “wiser for her age”.

The Yale News describes her as “prolific writer, actress and activist”. She served as a President of Yale College Democrats and is remembered by her friends as “ambitious, with Keen insight into Human nature”

She believed that the “world had to be changed”. Her English Lecturer John Crowley recalls her as a person with confidence and character. Her writing Professor Anne Fadiman describes her as “self-starting Cornucopia”, (an abundance of good things). She is also remembered by her mentors as a “writer across several genres”, an “articulate women who stood up for her clear views, demonstrating conviction”. English Professor and renowned literary critic recalling her death, “beyond human comprehension,” describes her as, “wise, almost beyond measure and manifested immense good will towards everyone privileged to have known her.” 

A thought provoking article which she published in the Weekend edition of the Yale news is a concern of all the sophomore students across the world. As freshman the students enroll into the university with a specific ambition which suddenly becomes insignificant as the student is passing out of the university graduates. This has been beautifully articulated by Marina in her article titled, “Even artichokes have doubts”. She expresses concern on why 25% of Yale graduates enter consulting and finance firms. Why one fourth of graduates from such a diverse university finally settle for a common job? She was also not spared, McKinsey & company tried to allure her into their organization. To quote her, “a myriad of other consultant firms and banks sell themselves shamelessly and brilliantly to us from the time we turn 20.”  While describing the recruiters she states, “They express interest in us personally — complimenting our intelligence and general aptitude and convincing us that those skills ought to be utilized to their full capacity (with them, of course)” thus arousing hope and desire, and triggering the “compulsion element” in the young minds, “the bottom line is…….. a job or is it just a factor”. A former Dean of the university whom she interviewed expressed that the recruiter’s promise of private sector offering “extraordinary skill set” compared to the public sector was “a load of crap”. The Dean remarks it is only “PPt and excel”, and only a “fantastic marketing tactic.”

A few thought provoking highlights from this well researched article which I place below needs introspection from an Indian perspective also:

 “Quality mentoring when you’re young is worth whatever you pay for it. Sometimes that means less money sometimes that means less of a life beyond work………There are a half-dozen more life-affirming ways you can acquire those same skills, including taking a class at night at a junior college while you do something more interesting……..The danger in doing a prefabricated thing after graduation,” ………..”there’s no unique story to tell about it. ……If you’re like most people, you’ll do one thing for two to three years, then something else for two to three years, and then — somewhere in that five-to seven-year distance from Yale — you’ll see a need to fully commit to something that’s a longer term project: graduate school, for example, or a job you need to stick with for some real time. The question is: where do you need to be with yourself such that when the time comes to ‘cast your whole vote,’ you’re reasonably confident you’re not being either fear-based or ego-driven in your choice … that the journey you’re on is really yours, and not someone else’s. If you think of your first few jobs after Yale in this way — holistically and in terms of your growth as a person rather than as ladder-rungs to a specific material outcome — you’re less likely to wake up at age 45 married to a stranger.” (Kevin Hicks)

 “People go into it without knowing why,” ……… “They consider you a crop. They harvest you; put you in their grinder, pay you well and off-load you.” (Charles Hill)

Marina’s fearful inferences from her numerous interviews are explicitly stated in her article; it is worth reflecting:

“Of course this is my own opinion, but to me there’s something sad about so many of us entering a line of work in which we’re not (for the most part) producing something, or helping someone, or engaging in something that we’re explicitly passionate about. Even if it’s just for two or three years. That’s a lot of years! And these aren’t just years.”

It is must read by all young graduates when they are approached by consultancy recruiters, visit:  http://yaledailynews.com/weekend/2011/09/30/even-artichokes-have-doubts/

Marina also explored and wrote another brilliant article on a complex and an unpleasant emotion – loneliness--which predominantly prevails among the youth; east or west. A young friend of mine who joined a finance industry a month back was asked “are you lonely,” by her colleague whom she occasionally met in the short span. When my friend narrated this out of blue question by her colleague I sat to think how connectivity amidst human being is eroding in this shrinking global village despite the information revolution. The charm of social connectivity seems to be vanishing. I visited the article page of Marina to read this stimulating article: “the opposite of loneliness”. Her opening statement is smashing:

“We don’t have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I could say that’s what I want in life. It’s not quite love and it’s not quite community; it’s just this feeling that there are people, an abundance of people.”

Describing her college life she states: “the best years of our lives are not behind us,  they are a part of us” Which I am sure every graduate will tearfully remember. Her article echo’s her need to do more for this world:

“We’re so young. We’re so young. We’re twenty-two years old, we have so much time. We have these impossibly high standards and we’ll probably never live up to our perfect fantasies of our future selves.”

She continues to emphasize:

“For most of us, however, we’re somewhat lost in this sea of liberal arts. Not quite sure what road we’re on and whether we should have taken it. If only I had majored in biology…if only I’d gotten involved in journalism as a freshman…if only I’d thought to apply for this or for that…”

She was very optimistic and a promising youngster who would have scaled remarkable heights with her wisdom if only God was not in such a hurry to call her back. Her parting shot of wisdom to all young graduates

“What we have to remember is that we can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over……….The notion that it’s too late to do anything is comical. It’s hilarious. We’re graduating college. We’re so young. We can’t, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have. Let’s make something happen to this world.”

For more on “the opposite of loneliness” visit: http://yaledailynews.com/crosscampus/2012/05/27/keegan-the-opposite-of-loneliness

A week after these words she succumbed to a car accident. God was not patient to see her do more. Sometimes great people with wisdom have short life!

Reference: 

http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2012/05/27/keegan-12-remembered-for-writing-activism/ 
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOICH&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW&AW=1397546909051
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/28/yale-student-marina-keegan-dies-dead-graduation_n_1550673.html

http://yaledailynews.com/weekend/2011/09/30/even-artichokes-have-doubts/
http://yaledailynews.com/crosscampus/2012/05/27/keegan-the-opposite-of-loneliness/