President's Pen - Winter 2022
During my interview process for the presidency of Roanoke College, a student described the College as a hopeful place, a beautiful truth I have seen and experienced firsthand in just a few months on the job. I have learned that members of our community are among the most tenacious, joyful and generous people around and that offering hope to others — in all ways big and small — is the essence of being a Maroon.
With community DNA like that, I find myself asking, “What can’t we do together?” As the new president, I’m excited to facilitate a community conversation that leads us toward even more hope as we embrace new and bold goals that bring about our next best iteration. Since 1842, Roanoke College has been in a constant state of becoming, and now it is our turn to carry the baton for a season. In truth, I’m confident that Roanoke College can be among the most hopeful places on Earth and that our students can become hope ambassadors in their future workplaces and communities.
My late friend, Shane Lopez, studied and researched the construct of hope. Shane’s life’s work boiled down to a simple message: Hope is a choice, hope can be learned and hope can be shared with others.
Shane taught me that hope has several components. Hope requires that we have clear goals, that we see pathways toward reaching them, and that we have a sense of agency to influence their achievement. Further, we can actually learn to have hope by understanding how it works.
In his book, “Making Hope Happen,” Shane shared a little secret to maintaining hope through challenges. He wrote that “there are many paths to [our] goals” and that “none of them is free of obstacles.” As we focus on achieving any goal, we have to ask ourselves questions to discover “agency”— our perceived ability to shape our future one step at a time. Do we actually believe we can make progress? Are our goals more compelling than our obstacles?
This exercise may not feel easy at first, but here’s the thing: Hope is a muscle that can be stretched and strengthened. Hope gets unleashed in small moves — what Shane called “tiny ripples.” He put it this way: “The tiny ripple of hope you set into motion can change the path of someone’s life. It can make their future better. You don’t have to take big bold action or raise a ton of money to spark change. You merely need to create momentum where there was none.”
So let’s dream big together and see where our hope might take us — turning ripples into waves to transform lives. As one of my heroes, Nelson Mandela, put it: “It always seems impossible until it is done.”
Here we go, with hope,
Frank Shushok Jr.
This column was originally published in Issue 2, 2022, of Roanoke College Magazine. You may read the entire issue on the magazine archives page.