Each year we ask our classmates a straightforward, simple question taken from the lines of a poem by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Mary Oliver. We share with you intimate and candid responses to this question, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Concept and photography: Tony Deifell, MBA 2002.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
My sisters and I knew our mom hadn’t been the best about keeping up with her rent, but we were still surprised when a police officer showed up and said we had to move. “Mom’s being evicted,” I told my dad over the phone. “Can you come pick us up?”
In eighth grade, I was too naïve to know that we wouldn’t be seeing Mom again. I thought that she would eventually come back, not knowing that her inability to pay rent was the result of years spent fighting an invisible battle. Only later did I find out that her steady decline into joblessness and homelessness was precipitated by a history of mental health issues that went undiagnosed.
Having watched my mom transition from a comfortable middle-class lifestyle to a life on the streets, I will be a business leader who openly values mental health in the workplace. I will be a champion of vulnerability and authenticity in the hopes that no child has to watch his or her parents fall from grace.
