#175. Connecting Dots

As part of a university commencement address some years ago, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of what was then known as Apple Computer, said “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.  So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” After I read his words, I was taken with how true that notion is when I consider my own life. None of us know what the future holds or what twists, turns, or detours may be along that journey. It is only with the gift of hindsight that we can “connect the dots” of our lives. But far more important is how true this is when we look at our students. We need to help them come to understand that every single step, each tiny accomplishment, and every disappointment is a dot that can only really be connected looking backward sometime in the future. And that they need to trust that those dots will not only connect at some time in the future, but that they will make all the difference in their lives.  

Peter Loel Boonshaft, Director of Education
KHS America