Spring 2019

Dear Classmates,

I have been thinking about what to write in this letter since I heard the deadline is February 8th.  As usual, I've not been inspired until a few days ago when I remembered a quotation from a book I read in the '60s:  THE ORDEAL OF CHANGE by Eric Hoffer, who also wrote THE TRUE BELIEVER. The quotation is:  "Change is always a crisis in self esteem.” Hmmm!  Pretty dramatic. . Always?  Not true?. . .Goofy '60s talk?  Hoffer goes on to describe his experience as a field worker, picking peas north up the coast of California.  He said that the day they were done with pea picking and were to start picking beans, he wondered to himself:  "Can I do this?"  A very homely example, but it got my attention then and has stayed with me over these many years. Can I do it?