Meredith
September 4th, 2002
ERALD
Volume XVIV, Issue 2
Dr. Jerri Nielsen tells her story at
opening convocation
Dr.
A full house comes to
hear the true story of
the author of Ice
Bound.
CHRISTY SADLER
Managing Editor
On Monday, August 26,
students, faculty, staff,
alumnae and guests packed
Jones Auditorium and Jones
Chapel to hear from Dr.
Jerri Nielsen, medical doc
tor, cancer survivor and
author of Ice Bound: A
Doctor's Incredible Battle
for Survival at the South
Pole.
Nielsen was the featured
speaker at the college's
opening convocation, which
celebrated the freshman
Summer Reading Program
and this year's featured
book, Ice Bound.
By 10 a.m., people were
sitting in the aisles in Jones
Auditorium, forcing later
attendees to be directed to
Nielsen's story inspired a book as well as countless women across
the world to overcome adversity
Jones Chapel, where they
viewed Nielsen’s speech by
live video feed.
Nielsen opened by
explaining that she came to
speak at Meredith because
she is a friend of the aunt
of Meredith senior Lara
Stroud, who also nominat
ed Nielsen's book for the
Summer Reading Program.
Although Nielsen may
not have come to Meredith
without that personal con
nection, she said that she
"would have liked to have
gone to a girls’ college"
because of the challenge
women face today with
keeping their identities.
"We [women] learn not
to say what we think,"
Nielsen said. "It is a sad
state when the mouth is no
longer connected to the
mind."
Nielsen delivered other
inspirational advice to the
crowd, including her
favorite quote from Goethe,
"If there's anything you can
do or dream you can, begin
it."
She compared life to an
amusement park in that we
can get as many "transfers"
as we want. She encour
aged everyone in the crowd
to choose the type of ride
he or she wanted to take,
using the roller coaster and
the carousel as examples.
Nielsen also spoke of her
experiences in Antarctica
before, during and after her
discovery of a cancerous
lump in her breast.
"It's the most beautiful
place I've ever lived," she
said of Antarctica while
introducing a slideshow of
pictures from her time
there. The photos included
views of the Antarctic land
scape; McMurdo Station,
where she lived in
Antarctica; the clothing the
people at the station wore;
and her hospital area at the
station.
Nielsen said that her ill
ness helped her to put her
life into perspective. "To
me, cancer is something
that gave my life color and
texture, and it made me,"
she said.
The Meredith communi
ty's response to Nielsen's
personal words of encour
agement was overwhelm
ingly positive.
Alumna Marion Welch
Thom, '65, was invited to
attend the convocation and
decided to bring her friend
Lisa Rose, a school librari
an and the mother of a
Meredith freshman.
"It was very powerful,"
Rose said of Nielsen's
speech.
"We enjoyed being here,"
Thom agreed.
Dr. Jean Jackson, vice
president for student devel
opment, also praised
Nielsen's speech. "I thought
she gave a message that we
all needed to hear, and I'm
especially grateful for the
freshman listeners to hear
Uiis message of personal
challenge and personal
choice," Jackson said.
If the reactions of the
freshmen are any indica
tion, this year's Summer
Reading Program was a
success. Several freshmen
responded enAusiastically
when asked their opinions
of the convocation, and
many waited in a lengthy
line to have Nielsen sign
their copies of Ice Bound at
the reception in the
Johnson Hall rotunda fol
lowing the convocation.
"I thought her speech was
awesome," said freshman
Jennie Niland, who was
waiting in line to meet
Nielsen." Ice Bound was
one of the fu-st books I had
been assigned that I liked."
On the inside:
Get an update on the Math and Get a preview of campus sports Find out what Approaching the
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