Make The Most of your Second Quarter

After about a year or so of being out of touch, last week I spoke with my longtime mentor, UCLA Professor Emeritus Mitsuru "Mits" Kataoka. Mits had gotten out of the hospital a few weeks ago, but his voice seemed as strong and resolved as it has ever been. I asked Mits, "So, how old are you now?"

Mits paused for a while before be replied, "You know how old I am!" I honestly didn't, so I asked him politely again. He said, "79."

Mits is the one who gave me the best piece of "advice" -- if you can call it that -- I’ve ever gotten. About five years ago, I had just been named the sixteenth President of the Rhode Island School of Design -- founded in 1877 and one of the preeminent art and design schools in the world. Mits had called to congratulate me and asked, "So, how old are you now, John?"

I had first met Mits when I was in my late 20s, so I felt old when I said, "41."

Mits took a serious turn in the tone of his voice, "Well that means you're well into your second quarter. You better do something with yourself in this job. What do you want to do?" I described to Mits how I believed that art and design could achieve national, strategic importance in the US -- and just like my alma mater MIT helped to link science and technology with innovation and economic competitiveness in the last century, RISD might be able to do the same for art and design in this new century. But then I asked Mits what he meant by my "second quarter."

He explained that life is lived in four quarters. Twenty-five years each. "0 to 25 years of age is your first quarter, 25 to 50 years old is your second, 50 to 75 is your third, and 75 to 100 is your fourth." Mits then shared with me, sternly, "John, don't forget. Most people don't make it to the fourth quarter. And your body starts to fall apart in the third quarter. So make the most of your second quarter, John. Don't waste it."

Last week, when I shared with Mits how RISD's efforts over the last several years were visible in the US Congress, where we hosted an event to launch the bi-partisan Congressional STEAM Caucus to place Art in the middle of our nation's STEM education strategy, I thought I might get that classically desired moment of the "nod from Dad" of doing some good. Especially after I had said to Mits that I felt lucky to get to talk to him in his fourth quarter. All to which Mits gruffly responded, "I got a lot done in my third quarter, John. So don't waste yours."

Footnote:

Mits Kataoka passed away in 2018. He made it to his fourth quarter. But it wasn't pretty. And I will remember that. Thanks, Mits!

Learn more about Mits' complex journey as a young American.