Form Your Own Opinion

By Linda Pryor, Executive Director, The Center for Mission & Academics

We were fortunate to have Ms. Mary Anastasia O'Grady, Opinion Columnist from The Wall Street Journal visit our school this week and speak with Upper School students and parents. We had a great group in attendance and Ms. O’Grady shared some valuable insights and reflections on freedom, culture, and journalism.

I am sure you have all had the experience of reading or hearing an idea in one context and then, a day or two later, reading something else unrelated that comes to that same revelation from another perspective. Ideas align, perspectives come together and there is greater clarity.

I had this revelation happen to me when preparing for a teacher book discussion of the text, Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell by Jason Riley and then, later hearing Ms. O’Grady speak. Riley states over and over again that Sowell was not a man to just accept public opinion, jump on the bandwagon, or form his thinking based on the prevailing ideas of his colleagues. He was a scholar, an investigator, always chasing the facts for himself in a never-ending pursuit of truth. He was diligent in taking the time needed to gather the evidence on his own in order to form a valid conclusion or judgment. His intense approach to this sort of honest investigation earned him the title of Riley’s book - Maverick.

This struck me deeply because I see so many people of all ages - students and adults, willing to follow the line of thinking they read on social media, swallowing it all as probable reality. I so admire Thomas Sowell in his consistent dogged determination to get the facts. Riley’s book circled back to this determination repeatedly from chapter to chapter.

Days later, as I sat in the audience, listening to Ms. O’Grady share what she thought was most important for our Upper School students to hear and understand. Well-versed in the challenges of the politics and economics of Latin America, still, that was not her first message - not the most important idea she wanted our students to hear. She wanted to talk about journalism. She wanted students to know good journalists do not just follow the themes or direction of the rest of their news outlet. They must do their own research…hunt for the facts…dig deeply…and ultimately, form their own opinions based on those facts. They must learn to do this well and never take the easy way out - just going with the current thought or popular viewpoint. Seek truth and think for yourself. That was her message. Sound familiar?

Then, my thoughts returned to Brookfield Academy. I am overwhelmed at times by the foresight of our Founders. Our Five Stars lead the way in sharing the very same message. Truth. Intellect. Character. These first three stars tell our scholars to seek truth, use their minds to investigate, research, dig, synthesize, and think critically about the data and then, have the honesty and courage to share it with others. These lessons are huge and important. We are fortunate to have the Five Stars to point the way as we are tasked with the great work of guiding young people to think clearly and always pursue the facts.

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