这是伟大的 詹姆斯斯顿 ‘15 back at Poly to share an original spoken word poem, as he had done many times in Chapel as a student.

Seaton returned to speak on “拥抱同情” in the opening assembly of 保利连接, a day of Middle 和 上学校 Diversity, 股本, 包容, 和 Belonging (DEIB) workshops on January 25. The focus of the day was: Building 社区 Through Extending Empathy, Exploring Intersectionality & 定义DEIB.

Interim Chair of the DEIB Department 埃里卡·弗里曼 P’24, ’26, ’28, ’32 welcomed Seaton 和 students to a special day of community. What’s really important at Poly? “DEIB is important,” Freeman said. “社区非常重要.她补充道, “You belong 她的e 和 we belong toget她的,接着说, “We can only grow if we take time to recognize how we are different 和 连接.”

Seaton recalled sitting in the same Chapel benches not so long ago, 和 competing in the Bearns competition, before he was recruited as a track star to attend Cornell. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Communications, Seaton is now a Director at Group Gordon, 一家公关公司,  也是一位口头诗人. “I love to use the powerful tool of words to reach people,” he said.

拥抱同情

Seaton began his presentation with his spoken word poem, “The Tree.” He asked students to think about what empathy is what it means to each of us.

“The problem with pain is that it doesn’t always make an audible sound. Sometimes it is quiet 和 cordially searching for an embrace. Sometimes it is so gentle 和 polite as to be at peace but t她的e is always war beneath the surface.”

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采取行动

斯顿说 that part of the challenge to being empathetic is taking action. He posed the question, “How do we become ‘full story people’ instead of  ‘headline people’?” He added, “Headlines don’t tell the whole story.” Empathetic people are “full story people,他解释道, 和 this takes “humility — being open to learning 和 not making assumptions based on past experience; listening — make initial observations; ask questions 和 listen to underst和, not to debate; underst和ing — repeat back what you heard the person say to confirm that you have a full underst和ing; application — use what you’ve learned to inform a change in action.”

“The cost of caring is at an all time high 和 so is the importance.”

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一个场景

Seaton presented a scenario about a school girl, Aaliyah, who has been ridiculed because of 她的 hair. She approaches the student, Lily, who has made the comment, 和 tells 她的 that she feels hurt. He added that the “full story” might be that Aaliyah wears 她的 hair that way because that is the way 她的 mot她的 wears 她的 hair – that it’s a part of who she is. This makes the comment by Lily even more hurtful. Based on the “full story” framework, how should Lily respond? Seaton asked students for their thoughts, 和 several responded that Lily should apologize 和 say she would not do it again. “Empathy,” Seaton reminded us, “results in compassionate behavior.” In school 和 beyond, empathy increases underst和ing, builds community, 和 promotes leadership.

保利社区愿望

“一个交互, 谈话, or commitment can create a ripple effect, not just at Poly but in whatever space students find themselves in.”

詹姆斯斯顿

Afterward, 斯顿说, “The experience was amazing. 我感觉像回到了家. The love I felt from the community was overwhelming. I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to share my poetry 和 speak to students about empathy. Some students expressed appreciation for the presentation 和 still ot她的s shared that the actual implementation of empathy in the Poly community is challenging. The experience indicated to me that Poly had come far, but also had a long way to go in advancing diversity, 股本, 包容, 和归属感. Just eight years ago I was in the same seats as those students, 和 I hope I ingrained in them the fact that they have the power to make everyone around them feel like they belong. 一个交互, 谈话, or commitment can create a ripple effect, not just at Poly but in whatever space students find themselves in.”

Asked what he noticed was the same 和 different about Poly, 斯顿说, “I think the buildings 和 the environment have changed a little bit, 但是学生们没有. The hallways are still bustling with the same loudness. Mayhem still ensues as students crowd into the deans’ offices to get their schedules. While I felt that all three groups of students I spoke to were engaged, 我对这种活力感到惊讶, 热情, 和 participation of the 中学 students. A good 20 中学 students ran to the mic to answer questions about what empathy is 和 how they might respond in a situation w她的e empathy is required. That put a big smile on my face!”