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Our speaker today is Kwame Dugan.
He did a Masters in International Relations at the London School of
Economics.
He took a Chinese-language certificate in one of the leading universities in
the world Ching Y University in Beijing.
He got a law degree at Columbia University.
Columbia law school being one of the most prominent in the world
and at the same time manage to get a Masters in Law from the University
resident
how he accomplished up maybe he'll give you the secret and presently
he is an attorney and practices law in New York
at the firm of Sherman & Sterling
his story is unique so is the story of every single person in this room
and what we don't want you to come away with, at least what I don't want you to come
away with
is a prescription for success, because just like there you go to the doctor you
have unique sometimes you get a unique
solution what you need to do is extract from his
experience what might be relevant to you rather than just
try to copy his experience. So I want to say how grateful I am to him
for coming to Toronto on one of the coldest days
the in the history of the city, it was -23 this morning
-33 with the windchill and he has been shaking his head regretting
his decision, except that New York is covered in the foot of snow and
it was so
below zero this morning in central park at one point so whether he could have
done better by staying in New York
I'm not certain. So could you join me in welcoming
Kwame Dougan to come and address you. Thank you.
Hi!
You know I don't do this very often so you'll have to forgive me
if I'm a bit nervous
You wouldn't imagine how nerve-racking
it can be to come back to a place where you spent
so much of your time becoming
who you are now.
Being back is really refreshing.
Thank you Dean for that kind introduction
Thank you to the profs,
some of my profs from my time here are in the audience
thank you so much for being here
thanks to some of my friends who are here
that I came to school with and I still spend
a good amount of my time connecting with.
And, you know, someone who's not here today but
deserves much more thanks for
me being here today is my mom.
So she's going to love this.
The Dean... I'll start with
touching on what Thabit said here earlier about going abroad
I highly encourage those of you who are thinking about it to do it
the opportunities that you get here, the resources here are phenomenal
and I really encourage everyone to consider it
I didn't do the study abroad and if
if I have to pick one regret that I'm willing to share right now it's that
I didn't go abroad with York.
I made up for it
recently, I think I've I have about 40 countries now
I've been through, but if you can start
here I'd encourage it. So I know the Dean's Circle of Scholars was,
according to Google,
was designed to inspire students to continue
achieving academic success while helping them become engaged leaders.
Now I know that, the Dean and I,
What we talked about was how impressed he was with
you guys
and his concern was that
some of you have come from a place where
you're not certain of what the potential
was for you and how to take those leaps
to get to that point. And that informed
my talk, and the title of my talk which is "Mind the Map".
Because I think each of us
has a journey to take but often it's the map and the route there has been imposed
by our social and economic circumstance or
other boundaries have been set.
So what I want to talk about is going to be reflected in
three themes that I'll highlight in certain in
a moment. I will say though that, you know, the Dean,
I think part of why Dean Martin thought I'd be
a good person to speak with here was when he came to New York
he had to see four lawyers and
the last one which was me, and we had drinks
which makes them even better.
I don't think any of you will know what this is but during my
time here
this was an ad that came out
during my time here York.
And when I was asked to come back this is one of the things I went back to. I remember
that even before this was out this was how honest
a truisms this was and how interdisciplinary
University was, York University particularly.
And this is the manifestation of what I've seen in my life
at this point because
the approach that I took while here
at York
the questions, the angles, to take the risks
to engage people around me, to reinvent
and channel my curiosity
was the foundation of some of the success I've been able to have.
I encourage you to chart your own course while here
and not just in school but, you know,
question the people around you and engage
the people around you, research every opportunity that's given
and take the risks.
As I was saying,
Engage your environment
take the risks and
feel fast, which I'll explain. Some background,
I was born in Ghana, we came here when my mom
applied for refugee status.
The thing about the map that's symbolic is, when you have
a black male who grows up in a single family,
in a single-parent home, a one room apartment
on the west side of Toronto
your expectations and what becomes possible
becomes limited. The boundaries which are established
are repeated to you often and
at eight I was a curious kid on welfare
when I was 17 I was at risk,
considered at risk even though I did well at school, I was
distracted, still didn't have money
but I was resourceful, and still curious.
and when I came to York that curiosity was channeled,
amplified and
the things that allow me to
channel that curiosity where the people around me, the peers.
Again when I say engage your environment I mean literally the people
and it things around you, I did that.
I took risks.
And one of the risks, which may not be apparent to
the Dean because he wasn't here at the time,
but I used to tell my professors that I met in my first year was
I came to this university as Leslie Dougan.
That's right. I, after
traveling to Ghana and reconnecting with
family and going through
some circumstances I had decided to reclaim
a name which was part of the family but I had never used.
Right so first-year I was "Leslie Dougan"
Second Year I'm "Kwame Leslie Dougan"
and it might not sound like such a risky thing to do but
it can be. It's a little risk in hindsight
but it's a risk nonetheless. And it's one little risk
that I took while here and I encourage
each of you to think about
what risky step you can take
while here. I wanted to become a lawyer
And one of the things I did while here was I
formed something called the "Urban Lingo Planners" which
may have been re-named at some point but it was a pre-law society for students
of color. It was it was a risky move that
paid off because people adopted it
and I said "You know what? Let me
"...push the boundaries that have been established by poverty..."
and that have been established by race." But there was a third boundary
that I would discover later
that is considered an impairment but
having engaged it recently, I realize had to have provided a lot of
the courage that has allowed me to take some of these steps.
The Dean said that I
am one of those jump in the pool people and
I think I can some of that to
what I discovered:
a disability called "dyspraxia"
I was diagnosed in 2006
with an impairment, it's called
"Developmental Coordination Disorder with attention difficulties"
and what it is
is according to the psychologists it's "awkwardness executing...
..unusual and unpracticed movement."
That planning and organization of ideas
takes time and effort.
And so although I have outstanding
academic ability, and I was motivated
I had cognitive visual performance ability that
fell significantly below my other abilities
What is mean in a daily routine?
It means as someone who lives in New York you have to use your metro card often
to put into the the turnstile there
and often you have to count change, it's a daily routine
and it was disrupted in part because of this. That's a bit I discovered.
And while it's doesn't seem a tremendous
challenge, it's one that can really make
a day difficult.
know how I thought in school and how I approached my career
scheduling, time-lines and in my profession as an attorney
time-lines, organizing information, writing briefs, preparing for deposition preparing
for trial
these things require a lot of organization, scheduling, planning
and it's been real challenge but
I have been able to work through a lot of these challenges.
But it's a constant one, it's ongoing struggle,
it's something that has been a boundary that's
affected the the map of my life.
And one of the most recent challenges it caused was
having to write a twenty minute speech for a bunch overachievers.
And I think that the main point there is
boundaries will exist and navigating them
is something that you should start
now, you should start with taking the risk in trying to navigate these
challenges today while here, because I think
this place is an amazing sandbox.
Now although it was a challenge that I wasn't aware of,
under reflection I realize that it allowed me- No -
-compelled me to chart my course, to find ways around dyspraxia caused me to be
particularly creative
and the creativity again was
fostered and supported by engaging the environment
I had to it, I couldn't do it independently, I had to rely on others
because I had this imbalance. I took risks.
I had to take risks because things that would make sense a lot of people
you know, logic and sequence, did not make the same sense to me
And I had to take leaps of faith, I had to reinvent myself.
Now I was still able to get a lot done,
mind you, I think this was how
I'll supply upon quite briefly.
at York I graduated
again the people around me the mentorship, I had family
support as well and the
the woman who looks like an African
dictator but with love is my mother
who was there to make sure that she didn't come to this cold country for no reason
I took risks
for things I believed in, and the reason I was able to do that
again because I realized that someone like my mom who took a risk
to leave the stabiliy, even though
the stability, though not necessarily the safest, was
a risk that she took to give me opportunity
and I even took the chance to go abroad
after to go learn Chinese and I'll reflect on that
later but before I could do all these things
I started small, I also was able to
graduate at the LSC with friends again
I engaged the people around me, because again your peers
and professors are going to be the core of what
allows you to take the leaps of faith that you will take later
and i also graduated from
law school, So the picture before was me at the London School of Economics,
and before that was York and now this is the last graduation that
I do plan on going through, law school was a dramatic enough experience
and if any of you are really considering doing this
we should talk
now I had to compensate for a lot of these
challenges but it caused me to be creative and to compensate I had to
abilities and if you want to know, the secret was
charm.
But generally I took little risks
before I took bigger risks. I learned to create strategies
to overcome my disability, but then having to do that
taught me that sometimes raw talent and intelligence
is not enough. You all have that, but you also need to create strategies
to capitalize on those skills that you do have and how best to use your talent
and that's something that I've been working on myself
so that's why it's an ongoing challenge and it's something that
I will impress upon you because
even as well as you do here, and I'm sure you will, when you get
beyond these halls
there will be other challenges and some will be more impactful
And eventually I passed the New York state
BAR exam which is for me the
crown achievement if you consider
how much information
is required to be processed and to get to a point where you're allowed
to advise and tell people what
your rights are and what the laws are in your opinion
and that's one of the greatest gifts that
I was able to earn.
But I want to go back to the themes again
and stress again why I think you should redraw boundaries that have
that are mapped out in front of you I spent so much of my life on edge overcoming these
deficiencies
that only now, eight years later, after graduating
am I starting to make the most of the journey that really began right here
at York. Engage the people around you
for those who are entering
university, I almost wasn't in your seat
someone had to see potential in me and there was a program that
allowed me
to apply to the University
and there was a support system that came with that. So the potential encouraged me to apply
and the only reason they saw the potential is because I engaged them and asked them questions.
And when I say take the risks now
was sometimes it that may not work out but so too with life may not
but this is the safest place you can do it. I remember
one day I walked to Osgoode Hall law school because I had the idea I wanted
become a law student. And so I didn't know any lawyers,
I was the only one in my family who had been to college,
so I walk over to the law school and started talking to random black men I saw
who were there, and engaged them
and they were willing to talk but this was how my mind worked
it was: take the risk.
Eventually I ended up going to a conferences and saw
a bunch of lawyers and the thing that
convinced me that I could become lawyer was when I saw
at the end of the night they were all dancing, and they were good
and I said I can do this
but I knew I had to chart my own course to get there
and that it was okay for me
to not take the thing that was given to me but to reinvent myself as I did
so the reinventions started with things like
changing my name, walk into a
law school and asking them questions and not being handcuffed to
the path that was in front of me. I used the resources that York had.
One year I lost a brother in Ghana
and I went to the services here
they've changed the name, but it was like a
therapy for those who have gone through traumatic events.
So I had that support system here and I can't be certain of what would have
happened had I not reached out because even now
as a lawyer in New York I'm having to
engage professionals to maintain.
It happens, once you graduate, some of these support means may not be here so
engage them now
so you know what you may need when you get past this place.
I took small steps here that allowed me to take
greater leaps in the future.
As a reminder, this plays out in my head all the time
because I ask the questions, I question the angles and didn't take things as they came
but kept pushing.
So and the reason I also do stress taking risks is
this doesn't look like a risky proposition its me in my
finest Ghanian garb
but were makes it
risky is I wore this
to my law firm's 140th anniversary,
that's me.
This is what they were wearing, that's where I was.
A bit bold, maybe,
but I knew what I stood for
and I remembered that when I took those little steps here
like changing my name, starting an organization,
reaching out and asking a professor a stupid question
They were the foundation that allowed me to take
even bolder steps later and
a good friend of mine who is now professor at Harvard has said to me in his class,
one thing that sticks out for him is
how risk-averse his students are, they come in with these great grades like you guys are
but they're so afraid to try and step out and do
things that will risk that and I'm not saying "don't study hard,"
"don't focus on your grades" and "don't do well" I think that's really important.
for a lot of people taking those risks is not for everyone
but the little things you can do and when I challenged each of you
to do those things before you leave.
So the lessons I learned here I've taken
to a point where I am now starting an investment fund
with others to support
and pour money into startups that are based in
Africa focused so that entrepreneurs there can have opportunities
that I was given while here.
I'm going to raise money and it's not a non-profit
it's a for-profit venture to be clear but
I also know the opportunities that were given to me
are not accessible to others, so I'm taking that risk
and it could mean that I'll
be doing with the law firm the safety
of that but I also know that
I'm now engaging my talents and I'm finding the strengths,
I'm finding myself, I'm redefining myself, I'm reinventing myself in the same way I did here
to start this.
But I'm still continuing to keep maintaining the same theme of
engaging others. So I'm doing with friends
so a friend that I look to, my peer, a buddy of mine, David
he grew up in a shelter and single mother
worked for the top corporations in this country: Kraft and Procter & Gamble
and quit so he could start his do it yourself
home sale company. It's inspiration to me but again it's your peers
that I looked to. He wanted to be an anomaly. One of the regrets I do have is that I
didn't engage my challenges earlier, my dyspraxia earlier
but I do say everyone can question your angles
look at the map that's in front of you, the hand you're dealt, if you will,
and take the chances, take the risks, redraw the maps that have been put in
front of you based on the major you're taking,
on the money that you have, or your family's expectations of you,
mind your environment, look to your professors and take those small risks
and when I say fail fast, fail fast now so you can reinvent quickly
because I believe that jobs rely on titles
but careers are built on invasion and innovation starts with self
benefited me in other ways, the practice of pushing myself
out of my comfort zone has helped me thrive
and abandon the maps that have been drawn and the symbols that are up there
on the top right is called "san kah fa" it's a Ghanaian
saying which means in order to move forward you must look back
so that's why the *** is looking back but the words "san"
return
"san" return, "kah" to go
"fa" to take
I think it's important that learning the past to build to the future
and then looking back and reflecting on the things I did, and how those challenges
those impairments that everyone faces,
particular to me, and how they allow me to abandon
the maps that have been drawn for me. And the reason I decided to
put this up was after passing the bar exam
I went to China to study Mandarin because
after four years of French here I could barely word "poutine"
so I said I would go spend five months
and fail fast because in five months I'll know that
I couldn't do this, at least but then I would know
that I would have no regret about not
having pursued this opportunity that was given to me earlier
So it's more if you've left some things in the past that you didn't pursue
I would encourage you to reach and do it and to
redraw map and if lost
you can return and right there it's for those
I'm sure some Mandarin speakers in here will help me
when I butcher this but *speaking Mandarin*
*speaking Mandarin*
Which is: "If lost, please return me to York University"
Thank you