Quinn Shares Life Lessons with Graduates

Jane Bryant Quinn, former Newsweek columnist and Main Street Connect’s Editorial Director, has lots of good advice.  Usually that advice is related to personal finance.  However on Monday, Quinn shared her life’s lessons and practical wisdom with graduating seniors at Pace University's Undergraduate Commencement at the Pleasantville, NY campus.  Quinn received the honorary degree of Doctor of Commercial Science at a ceremony attended by more than 2,000 students, faculty, and guests.

Modestly putting aside her impressive resume, Quinn shared some of the lesser known -- and bumpier -- parts of her career path.

“So – for your ears only -- here is the flip side of that resume," she began.  "the things that are written on the back and between the lines about Jane Bryant Quinn." These included not having a job when she graduated from college and not being able to live at home while waiting to get one, because her parents had given her room away! Oh and her first magazine job? Delivering the mail. She described how she had to work nights because at one point "she wasn't earning enough in the day to pay her bills." Quinn was fired twice.  She was even told by a TV news director to fix her clothes, hair and voice. 

“So, the official biography shows that I have leaped the chasm," she said.  "The uncensored biography shows that I leaped the chasm in two bounds – and that first bound takes your breath away.  Every adult you see around you has a similar story.”

Although these are difficult economic times, Quinn noted, recent graduates should be optimistic. “When younger people with the right skills lose their jobs today – or quit their jobs -- they find new employment fast. The category of short-term unemployed is close to the lowest it has been in 30 years,” she said. “So don’t be discouraged by the employment statistics. The economy wants people with the right skills, which means that it wants you.”

Quinn proceeded to give graduates specific tips on how to advance one’s career.  “The jobs you hear about and where you go almost always depend on the people you meet, and to meet the people in the field you like, you must get in the life.”

She stressed the importance of being open to new opportunities, including more responsibility, and saying “yes”. “If you accept that more responsible job, you will stretch your mind and your skills. Mastering it will fit you for a higher job. You should take every opportunity to get more education and training because it might lead you to something new and exciting that you hadn't thought about.  In my life, I always found what I was not looking for, and it turned out well,” said Quinn.  “I can’t stress enough the importance of saying yes. Yes, I’ll do it. Yes, I can help. Yes, I’ll figure that out for you. If there’s just one job opening and several candidates, an eager applicant has an edge.”

Quinn ended her speech on a philosophical note, asking students to always consider society at large. ”This country desperately needs citizens who can look beyond their own narrow interests to the interests of a nation as a whole. Who don’t ask only, ‘What's best for me and people like me? ’  Ask, ‘What’s best for people not like me?  What is best for our country as a whole?’ It needs you to be those citizens.”  

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