Soledad O'Brien's Advice to Fellow Harvard Alums

Part of Soledad O'Brien's advice to fellow Harvard graduates was to not take advice - though with a caveat.

Text excerpted from https://alumnispotlight.com

Soledad O'Brien is one of the most trusted names in broadcasting and journalism. She first rose to prominence as an anchor for CNN's "American Morning" in 2003. O'Brien has contributed to shows on MSNBC, NBC, Fox, A&E, Nat Geo, and PBS NewsHour. She was also a special correspondent on Al Jazeera America's news program, “America Tonight,” and produced several documentaries on social issues for the network.

Since 2016, O'Brien has been the host for “Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien,” a nationally syndicated weekly talk show produced by Hearst Television. In addition, she serves as chairwoman of Starfish Media Group, a multiplatform media production company and distributor that she founded in 2013.

Following in the footsteps of her three older siblings, O'Brien entered Harvard University as a freshman in the fall of 1984...  O'Brien left Harvard towards the end of her junior year. She wanted to start working as an associate producer and news writer at WBZ-TV, an NBC affiliate in Boston. However, years later, she returned to school. Despite being pregnant with her first child, she fulfilled the rest of her academic requirements at Harvard and in 2000 O'Brien received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and American literature...

...in 2013, O'Brien delivered the Class Day speech before Harvard's 362nd Commencement. The acclaimed journalist implored the new graduates to ignore the advice of others. 

"Not taking advice means you will break those boundaries — those walls that exist that make us feel like we are different from other people we meet," she said, drawing from her own vast experience as a breaker of boundaries since leaving Harvard. "Find greatness and seek out goodness in other people."

Soledad O'Brien to be a visiting fellow at Harvard's Graduate School of Education

The Harvard Graduate School of Education announced that Soledad O’Brien ’88-’00 will be a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the school for the 2013-2014 academic year.

“It is an honor to join the esteemed scholars of the Harvard Graduate School of Education community next year,” O’Brien said in a press release.

Soledad attended Harvard but took time off during her senior year in 1988 to work in broadcasting. She returned to complete her bachelor's degree in 2000.

Administrators at the Ed School said that O’Brien will bring valuable experience and perspective from her efforts to expand educational opportunities. Along with her husband, the Soledad O’Brien and Brad Raymond Foundation encourages young women to work toward a college education through mentoring, financial support, and advising.

O’Brien also serves as the chair of the board of directors of The After-School Corporation, a non-profit which seeks to expand educational opportunities for urban students.

While the specific ways Soledad will be involved at the Ed School are still unclear, O’Brien is excited to interact with undergraduate as well as graduate students at the School of Education.

Soledad O'Brien Speaks at Harvard Class Day

Soledad O’Brien spoke to this year's graduating Harvard seniors at Senior Class Day ceremonies on the day before Harvard’s 362nd Commencement.

O’Brien graduated from Harvard in 1988 and has since reported on breaking news from around the globe.

In 2011, she won an Emmy for “Crisis in Haiti” in the category of Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story — Long Form. O’Brien was part of the coverage teams that earned CNN George Foster Peabody Awards for its coverage of the BP oil spill and Hurricane Katrina, and an Alfred I. duPont Award for its coverage of the Southeast Asia tsunami. The National Association of Black Journalists named O’Brien the Journalist of the Year and she won the Edward R. Murrow and RTDNA/UNITY award for “Latino in America” in 2010.

O’Brien has been integral in hosting and developing the award-winning Black in America franchise, one of CNN’s most successful international franchises.

In 2010, she wrote a critically lauded memoir, The Next Big Story: My Journey Through the Land of Possibilities, which chronicled her biggest reporting moments and how her upbringing and background influenced these experiences.

Soledad O'Brien in Conversation at Harvard's Institute of Politics

Soledad O’Brien spoke at Harvard’s Institute of Politics with Callie Crossley, a Boston-area journalist with WGBH and producer of the documentary series Eye On The Prize.

Besides discussing journalism and social media, the discussion also took in some criticisms she has received for her Black In America, which has also been praised and received awards.·



A video from the Harvard Institute of Politics is available. This discussion is part of The IOP’s John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum.

O’Brien was named Distinguished Visiting Fellow for 2013-2014 at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.

A Conversation with Soledad O'Brien & Callie Crossley

A conversation with Soledad O'Brien & Callie Crossley will occur on Thursday, May 02, 2013 at 6:00pm EDT at Harvard University.

Soledad O'Brien, Award-winning broadcast journalist and Harvard College ’88 and Callie Crossley, host of  Under the Radar on WGBH-FM and Institute of Harvard Politics Resident Fellow (2002) will discuss the media and African-American issues at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University.

You can also watch this event online at http://forum.iop.harvard.edu/content/conversation-soledad-obrien-callie-crossley at the scheduled date and time.

The John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics is Harvard University’s premier arena for political speech, discussion and debate. Located at the heart of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Forum regularly hosts heads of state; leaders in politics, government, business, labor and the media; academics; community organizers; and artists.

Soledad O'Brien's Harvard Years

Soledad O'Brien grew up in a family that valued education. Her father was a professor of mechanical engineering at Stony Brook University and her mother taught Spanish and French in the Smithtown high schools. Her father had a very immigrant mentality: No matter what happens, no one can take away your education.

Like her older siblings, she got into Harvard. But she left Harvard where she took pre-med courses while majoring in English during her senior year to take a production assistant job at WBZ-TV in Boston.

She rose quickly and soon headed to NBC News in New York, then station KRON in San Francisco, and then back to New York to co-anchor NBC’s Weekend Today. She moved to CNN in 2003.

Were her educator parents disappointed in her decision to leave college?

"I think that they really got it. My parents were not ambitious for us to go to Harvard, as many parents are. My parents were ambitious for us to do as well as we possibly could in school, and to get an education and to do everything well. And I went right from school to working, so it wasn’t like I was sitting on the couch trying to decide what I was going to do with my life. I think that would have sent my parents into a tailspin. I really immediately liked my job and I think it helped them that I had not a moment of regret."

And when the time was right, she returned to Harvard. In 2000, when she was pregnant, she returned and finished college very quickly.

"I didn’t have much to finish. And it was funny, once you’re in the workforce, you’re a much better student. You’re very organized. You’re not hanging out with people or going to keg parties. You’re on Amtrak, schlepping back and forth. And in those four hours, you’re reading books and writing papers. I was pregnant, so I was ragingly sick. That part was miserable. But I knew that if I didn’t do it, I would never do it.

My husband used to joke that he was dating a coed. But no: I didn’t wear makeup and I wore sweats like everybody else. I remember, that year I was named one of People magazine’s 50 most beautiful people. A professor said to me, 'Hey, I saw you in People magazine.' I said, "Hey, you read People magazine?"

O'Brien Speaks At Harvard Black & Crimson Banquet

Soledad O’Brien, Harvard class of 1988, gave the keynote talk at the 4th Annual BSA Crimson & Black Banquet on February 6th.

As one of the largest student organizations on Harvard's campus, the Harvard Black Students Association strives to enhance the experience of all Harvard students, but in particular black students.

O'Brien is the host for the CNN Special Investigations Unit and anchored the 2008 CNN special, “Black in America.” Of Afro-Cuban descent, O’Brien is a member of both the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Prior to her keynote address at the Black & Crimson Banquet, Harvard Crimson staff writer Courtney P. Yadoo spoke with Soledad by phone about her undergraduate years at Harvard.

Excerpt:

Roland Fryer, a professor at Harvard, has become a very good friend of mine. I’m a big fan of his work. I probably spend more time, as a grown-up alum, thinking about courses and coursework because a lot of stories come right from Harvard professors.

I did a lot of sports and intramurals. I played on the rugby team. I did a lot of work in the government of my House. I did a lot of public service. I never felt you could define who I was with one word.

O'Brien on Life Lessons From Athletics

During a candid and at times humorous NCAA Convention keynote address, Soledad O’Brien shared with a near-capacity crowd how her experiences as an NCAA student-athlete influenced her life. While a student at Harvard, O'Brien was a track & field, lacrosse and rugby student-athlete.

“The coaches made me learn about process and that has been applicable to everything I’ve done in life since. Coaches teach you that the getting there is even more important than the end goal of winning – that natural talent is certainly part of the equation but not the main part. It’s buckling down and doing the work that has far more correlation to success on the field, off the field and in life.

Diversity is critical in all we do because when the face of the game changes – whether it’s the television game or the presidential game or the golf game – so many people who didn’t think they had a chance get opportunities, and they get those opportunities because it opens their minds to those opportunities. When hard work and perseverance are the key messages, not what you look like, that is critical and requires different thinking about the same old stories.”
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?ContentID=43892

In a blog post written by Patrick Jenkins, a track and field student-athlete at Western Kentucky, he describes some of the points Soledad made in her talk that rang true for his own experiences.

She first explained that hard work was and is the main reason for success on the field, as well as in life. "Natural talent is certainly part of the equation," she explained.

But when it comes down to the nitty gritty, hard work is a better correlation to success. Too many times I have seen this scenario played out: talented individuals succeed early in their career and, later after putting in no work, they get passed up by others who have worked hard during the off season.

O'Brien argued that knowing a diverse group of individuals not only promotes success, but also introduces you to a larger number of people that provide wisdom and experience.

She went on to explain her mentors have come from all directions: colleagues, family members, coaches, and people she has interviewed. By expanding our mentors beyond our coaches and fellow student-athletes, it allows us to reach out to more people and gather more experience/advice.