In college, it's common to feel the pressure to do everything—overload classes, join clubs, apply to internships, and more. But rarely do we stop to ask why. Behind all of our striving, what’s the purpose of our work anyway?
The speakers in this episode ask this question. You'll hear from Lydia Dugdale, a primary care physician and director of the Center for Medical Ethics at Columbia University, and Mike Fontaine, professor of Classics at Cornell. They discuss our desire to cling to life, how to find a purpose that transcends the daily striving of school and career, and what ancient wisdom might offer us that the “grindset mindset” can’t. This forum was held at Cornell in Fall 2023. Thank you to the forums team at Cornell for making this event possible.
Lydia Dugdale
Asking questions about meaning and purpose in college, grad school, or beyond, is really important.
Are we masters of our own lives, or are we responding to a master of our life? In the Christian tradition, ... there's this idea that life comes from God. God is the author and creator of life, and therefore we can choose to live aligned with God, or we can choose our own adventure.
There's the question of calling. ... Do I have a deep sense that what I am doing matters in the big scheme — whether it will translate into a life of service or a life of teaching, or will allow me to invest in communities?
We can choose how we can respond to suffering. And a life of virtue helps us respond to suffering in a better, healthier, more robust way.
