Forward!
I write this From the Editor during commencement season for colleges and universities around the globe. As faculty at Boston University, I participated in our recent ceremony and had the pleasure of reading the names of graduates from our online post-professional doctorate in occupational therapy program. Thirty-eight occupational therapist from four countries and 11 US states graduated/walked in the ceremony. Our keynote speaker, Sharon Ryan, also an occupational therapist reminded me of the book, Onward! [1] that I thoroughly enjoy reading and re-reading at this time of year. It contains 25 years (1975–1999) of advice from commencement speeches. I thought I would briefly share advice from some of these speakers:
“Endings need not be public, newsworthy events. Throughout your life, there will be many little endings, every day. It is these endings that somehow give shape to the fragments of your life that are called experience. And it is this ‘experience’ that makes up one’s life” (James V. Cunningham, page 46).
“ … I offer you four simple suggestions:
• Find a job-no matter how large or small-that means something to you.
• Be generous with your advantages, and all of you have a lot of advantages. Give to others.
• Stand up for what you believe in. Take a stand no matter how unpopular that stand may be. The world does not honor fence sitters.
• Remember where you came from-your community, your neighborhood, your school, your friends” (Bill Richardson, p. 290).
“I can tell you this: Take every choice you are offered. Have as much fun as you can, when you can. Do not shrink from life, and do not shrink from the choices” (Gwen Ifill, p. 206).
“I would leave each of you with the hope that as you make your own choices over time, you will choose in such a way that allows your drive for achievement to be balanced by an equal commitment to love, and to play, to family, to friends and community” (Doris Kearns Goodwin, p. 281).
“Words matter … Words have power … ” (Michael Dirda, p. 266).
I intentionally included the last quote to remind us of the importance of words and what they represent. In this issue of WORK, words have power to advance the evidence in topics such as work engagement, occupational safety and health, job satisfaction, and ergonomics.
The Editor’s Choice paper is An epidemiological study of mental health problems related to climate change: A procedural framework for mental health system workers authored by Boshra A. Arnout. The findings from this cross-sectional descriptive survey study suggest that there is a prevalence of mental health problems related to climate change and challenges “ … policymakers, mental health providers, and departments of psychology in Arab universities, to take urgent action to assess and develop the system for mental health to manage the risks of extreme climate change on the human mental health”.
The impact of climate change is important to advance in the evidence-based literature. WORK will soon have a call for papers on this topic. All calls for papers can be found at workjournal.org.
As always, I welcome hearing from you.
Founding Editor, WORK
Occupational therapist & ergonomist
blogs.bu.edu/kjacobs/
References
[1] | Smith P , ((2000) ). (Ed). Onward! Scribner: New York. |
