Author encourages students to dream big

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By Nate Fain

More than 1,000 students, faculty, staff and members of the general public were given a lesson on the positives of failure.

“When you fail, go back and hit it harder,” said James McBride, jazz musician and the author of “The Color of Water.”

McBride, author of three books and former staff writer for the Boston Globe and the Washington Post, spoke at the Singletary Center for the Arts to discuss the creation of his book that was assigned to the freshmen class as part of the UK Common Reading Experience program, an effort from Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and the Office of New Student and Parent Programs. This is the first year of the program and part of UK’s effort to become a top-20 university.

McBride wrote the book about his mother, a white Jew that moved away from her family to Harlem and married a black man in 1941. She had 12 children, all of whom were sent to college despite living in poverty. McBride’s mother was afraid the rest of her children would lose respect for her if they read her son’s book.

Instead, the effect produced opposite results. McBride’s family found greater respect for their mother who had been widowed twice and sacrificed for her children, McBride said.

McBride also gave advice to students to help ease potential fears of failure.

“I know you guys know how to succeed, but failing can be used as a learning experience,” McBride said. “Numerous publishers rejected my book — talk about failure.”

McBride said the real purpose of college was not to be trained, but to learn how to think and form your own opinions. He urged students to find something they are interested in, and pursue it.

Elizabeth McCord, an undeclared freshman who attended McBride’s lecture and read his book, said McBride was very open-minded.

“(He) offered a totally different perspective,” McCord said.

Jaimee Scribner, who works in the Provost Office for Faculty Affairs, said McBride’s humor helped him connect with the students.

“I think this was a great message for college students to encourage them to shoot for their dreams,” Scribner said.

McBride challenged students to become informed by reading the newspaper and to strive to make a difference in the world.

“We need people like you guys to want to move to big cities and make big decisions that influence a lot of people’s lives,” McBride said.