March Madness reminds us of the life and legacy of Jim Valvano, an Italian American basketball player, championship coach, and broadcaster. Not a tourney goes by without a nod to a speech he gave at the first ever ESPY awards in March 1993, Valvano was battling terminal cancer when he received the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Those words became his legacy, and the most famous part was when he shared his philosophy for a fulfilling day. He said,
To me, there are three things we all should do every day. If we do this every day of our life, you’re going to … What a wonderful … Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think, you should spend some time in thought. And number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears. Could be happiness or joy, but think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.Unbeknownst to Jimmy V, his message serves as a strong argument for the power of reading. Here's how. Here's why.
Laugh: I was sitting in the library with a group of students I had taken on our service immersion. We had been journaling, reminiscing, answering questions and catching up, when a singular book on the shelf caught my attention. Ball Four! I cried. Everyone looked at me. "During my junior year of high school, my US History teacher had this book on a recommended reading list. He told me it was about baseball—so that was an easy choice. I laughed out loud so many times when I read that book."
One of my students, looked at me with confusion. "You laughed out loud? Reading a book?"
"Yes. This book was significant because it was a tell-all about life inside the clubhouse. Some of the antics that the author Jim Bouton—who had been a knuckleball throwing pitcher in MLB —recalls were hilarious." I realized why she was confused.
"Have you ever laughed out loud while reading a book?" I asked
"No," she admitted.
"It's one of the best feelings. Your eyes are moving along, your mind is comprehending the words and it always takes you by surprise. Spontaneous laughter. "
I didn't want her to feel badly. I added, "This hasn't happened a lot to me, but it certainly did when I read Ball Four."
Have you ever laughed while reading a book? I know my friend Karen did when she read "A Very Punchable Face: A Memoir" by Colin Jost. She said she had tears rolling down her face it was so funny. I began to think this is another reason to encourage young people to read. Laughing out loud while reading leads to a hearty laugh. A memorable one.... one worth seeking everyday.
Think: I just attended a two day Jesuit conference on technology and transformation at Brophy College Prep in Phoenix. The Innovation Summit unpacked the school's guide to ethical and purposeful Artificial Intelligence use. The presentations and demonstrations certainly gave me a whole lot to think about.
One of the more helpful tools was the Brophy AI Usage Guide AI Levels for Academic Integrity. This infographic resonates with my teaching philosophy and how I want to conduct my classroom. AI is not the enemy, but rather a tool that can augment student learning. Inspired by my experience, I decided I should ask AI platform "Claude" how reading helps a person think for the purpose of this post. My prompt was met with answers I expected like:
- It exposes you to new ideas and perspectives that you might not encounter otherwise. This broadens your mental horizons and gives you more conceptual tools to work with.
- Reading develops your ability to follow complex arguments and narrative structures, strengthening your analytical thinking skills.
- When you read challenging material, you're forced to make connections between concepts, which builds your synthetic thinking abilities.
As someone who made reading a daily habit in 2021 with my "read for 21 minutes in 2021" practice, I have to say that A.I. got it right! Thank you, Claude.
Cry: A long time fan of the author Sherman Alexie, I finally read his book Flight. I had seen this work of fiction in the hands of many of my students for years. I enjoy familiarizing myself with what they read. The common canon can offer shared insights or poignant examples for in-class discussions. About 30 pages in to book, I had no idea where the story might land. 60 pages...90 pages in.... three quarters of the way through and I still couldn't tell. Today, I found out, and it made me cry. Really cry. It was beautiful.
I consider myself an equal opportunity crier. I cry at movies and TV shows. When I hear touching stories or personal testimonies, I'm not afraid to shed a tear. I don't get choked up at everything, but from time to time I find tears to be a source of relief. I've shed happy tears and sad tears. But there is one source of tears that continues that always comes as a surprise: when I read.
Jim Valvano brought the NC State Wolf Pack to a stunning championship title. His motto for that journey was survive and advance. Those words have their own power, but they aren't what lead to a full day. While he didn't ask a book to make us laugh, think or cry in one setting, I can guarantee it will put one of those steps in motion. Should you catch the others, and you will, put a book mark on that. Pass it on. Life is a team sport.
Photo Credits
Flight