WEEK EIGHT: Adversity

Four years ago, Gerry Lenfest, one of Philadelphia’s hallmark entrepreneurs and philanthropists, told a group of young business students to be prepared for three things in life: hard work, adversity, and steadfast vision. His comment about adversity struck me then, and now, I wonder what a former president would say about adversity?

On Friday, the Carter Center interns had their second chance to interact with President Carter and Mrs. Carter in a Q&A session in Atlanta. Forty young people perched on the edges of their seats in newly dry-cleaned suits, listened intently as the Carters spoke about the history of the Center as well as the demographics of this intern class.

In true entrepreneurial fashion, the Carter Center started with just two people in 1982. Instead of a 35-acre state of the art facility and a $90 million annual budget, the Carter Center was housed in a spare room at Emory University. Even then, President Carter recognized the critical role of education and academics in his pioneering international work by forging a partnership with an educational institution. Nearly 30 years later, the Center has observed 77 national elections in 30 different countries, nearly eradicated Guinea worm disease worldwide, and built an Atlanta-based staff of 175 employees with field offices in 12 countries around the world.

Once again in an uncanny show of appreciation and respect, President Carter complimented us! Our class of interns had an 8% acceptance rate from the applications submitted this year. Collectively, 12 languages are spoken fluently – ranging from Khmer to Swahili to Arabic. There are three law students and three Ph.D. candidates. We have lived and worked in countries around the world: Lebanon, Ecuador, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ghana, Cambodia, Iraq, China, Jordan, Guinea, and many more. Two students were missing the day we met with the President – because they were in Democratic Republic of the Congo and the West Bank in the Middle East. President Carter acknowledged the importance of the work interns provide to the Center each and every year.

The questions we asked ranged from the mental health work of Mrs. Carter to advice from the President on career paths. I simply couldn’t resist asking my question:
“President Carter, could you please give us some advice about how we might handle adversity in our future careers?”

Silence.

“Well, I wouldn’t have thought that a group like this would need to handle much adversity…” President Carter explained to us that we represent one of the most fortunate (“blessed”) groups of people in the world, perhaps representing the top 1% or so of young, educated multi-lingual students entering the workforce through the United States. He reminded us that three-quarters of the population in Liberia live on less than $1/day where the idea of education simply does not fit into their daily fight for survival. So,“ just put in perspective the challenges you face or the setbacks you have,” he said. “If something doesn’t work out for you, perhaps it wasn’t meant to be and another opportunity will emerge.”

He acknowledged that the question “caught him by surprise.” He then added the most important remark I’ve heard yet since arriving at the Carter Center, which is perhaps a re-affirmation as to why we are all here:

“In my view, you have a great obligation to use your talents and the resources you’ve been given to a greater good and to serve those around the world where you can be of assistance.”

The next time I see Mr. Lenfest, I am going to tell him that “vision and hard work” trump “adversity.”