Aspirando et Perseverando

Latin for “to aspire and to persevere” these are the words that represent the motto of the boarding school I went to from 1971 to 1975, Avon Old Farms School. Both my father and brother Rob were alumnists of Avon. These words certainly had meaning and focus while I was in high school. As I have grown older, and particularly as I have faced the challenges of spinal cord injury, these words have taken on a whole new level of meaning. I coined this phrase post-injury and it goes like this: Define Your Terms. Take A Stand. Choose To Win. When I think back to high school, I realize now that this mantra I’ve embraced had its origins in Aspirando et Perseverando. In parallel fashion, this phrase I coined could easily read like this: Aspire. Persevere. Prevail. Avon taught me a lot of life lessons but none as significant as this. Finding focus in trying to recover from this injury has had me reaching, pursuing, goal setting and committing; it has had me resolute, unwavering, determined and persistent; it has had me visualizing, accomplishing, achieving and prevailing. It is amazing to think that over 46 years ago when I first walked through the quadrangle of Avon Old Farms School I would quickly learn about the school’s motto and what its founder Theodate Pope Riddle intended as she created a school for young boys that would transform them to young, capable, impactful men. The school’s motto has been a timeless instrument of focus in my life and has helped me embrace the enormous challenge of this injury.