Dear Students,

For this month’s newsletter, I am turning over my platform to Amanda Gorman, a bestselling modern American poet, who was the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. History as well as the first National Youth Poet Laureate in 2017.

At this moment, when the world feels as though it is spinning faster than ever, when speed, brevity, and efficiency predominate our communication (and much of our work), when our city is still depressingly cold and gray, I thought we might need some art.

I have to slow down when I read a poem. I have to think, to reflect, to turn the words around in my mind until I understand their meaning. Even the short poems on the subway make me pause. I can’t inhale them the way I do a text and then move on to the next thing often without even registering what the text said. When I read a poem I have to pay attention.

I hope you can take a beat, a breath, a pause, a moment – I hope you can take in some art this month, in whatever form you want. I hope you enjoy Ms. Gorman’s poem.

New Day’s Lyric

By Amanda Gorman

2021

May this be the day

We come together.

Mourning, we come to mend,

Withered, we come to weather,

Torn, we come to tend,

Battered, we come to better.

Tethered by this year of yearning,

We are learning

That though we weren't ready for this,

We have been readied by it.

We steadily vow that no matter

How we are weighed down,

We must always pave a way forward.

*

This hope is our door, our portal.

Even if we never get back to normal,

Someday we can venture beyond it,

To leave the known and take the first steps.

So let us not return to what was normal,

But reach toward what is next.

*

What was cursed, we will cure.

What was plagued, we will prove pure.

Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,

Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,

Where we weren't aware, we're now awake;

Those moments we missed

Are now these moments we make,

The moments we meet,

And our hearts, once all together beaten,

Now all together beat.

*

Come, look up with kindness yet,

For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.

We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday,

But to take on tomorrow.

*

We heed this old spirit,

In a new day's lyric,

In our hearts, we hear it:

For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne.

Be bold, sang Time this year,

Be bold, sang Time,

For when you honor yesterday,

Tomorrow ye will find.

Know what we've fought

Need not be forgot nor for none.

It defines us, binds us as one,

Come over, join this day just begun.

For wherever we come together,

We will forever overcome.

***

Warmly,

Current Student Profile

Alumni Profile

Jocelyn Prothro

Jocelyn Prothro

Jocelyn is a 2020 graduate of the M.A. Program in Social-Organizational Psychology. Prior to TC, Jocelyn worked in travel and lifestyle Public Relations; traveling with clients throughout upstate New York, highlighting the newest restaurants, hotels and adventures for media consumption. While she enjoyed working in PR, Jocelyn felt something was missing and that she wanted to give back in a larger way. Unsure of exactly what that would look like, she knew she wanted to lean into her undergraduate minor in Psychology, while continuing to grow in an organizational setting.

While attending TC, Jocelyn interned at Sabert Corporation on their Talent Development team, working under a TC Org-Psych alum who helped Jocelyn directly apply her classroom learnings to in-the-field scenarios. She also spent time at the Madison Square Garden Company interning on their People Partners team. It was at MSG that Jocelyn worked on her first Diversity and Inclusion project, sparking a deep interest in the field and eventually leading to the career she is in today. Upon graduating in May 2020, Jocelyn accepted a full time position at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation as a Talent Acquisition/Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator.

At SMBC, Jocelyn was introduced to careers in Diversity & Inclusion, and came to understand the impact these positions have on the workforce. She spent time interacting with employees to create community through Employee Resource Groups; partnered with Talent Development to build inclusive training programs representative of the workforce; and continued to leverage her Talent Acquisition experience to ensure equity across the system.

Today, Jocelyn is the Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Manager at BuzzFeed, Inc. She oversees six ERGs, builds and facilitates regular diversity training opportunities, and provides support for employees struggling to find a sense of belonging. For Jocelyn, working in DEI has always meant listening to the needs of others and meeting people where they’re at. The overwhelming need for psychological safety in the workforce - for a sense of purpose, belonging, hope and community - have remained constant throughout her career in DEI. How she helps create these opportunities for the workforce is the challenge, but one Jocelyn has come to enjoy and find a deep appreciation for.

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Jocelyn Prothro

Jocelyn is a 2020 graduate of the M.A. Program in Social-Organizational Psychology. Prior to TC, Jocelyn worked in travel and lifestyle Public Relations; traveling with clients throughout upstate New York, highlighting the newest restaurants, hotels and adventures for media consumption. While she enjoyed working in PR, Jocelyn felt something was missing and that she wanted to give back in a larger way. Unsure of exactly what that would look like, she knew she wanted to lean into her undergraduate minor in Psychology, while continuing to grow in an organizational setting.

While attending TC, Jocelyn interned at Sabert Corporation on their Talent Development team, working under a TC Org-Psych alum who helped Jocelyn directly apply her classroom learnings to in-the-field scenarios. She also spent time at the Madison Square Garden Company interning on their People Partners team. It was at MSG that Jocelyn worked on her first Diversity and Inclusion project, sparking a deep interest in the field and eventually leading to the career she is in today. Upon graduating in May 2020, Jocelyn accepted a full time position at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation as a Talent Acquisition/Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator.

At SMBC, Jocelyn was introduced to careers in Diversity & Inclusion, and came to understand the impact these positions have on the workforce. She spent time interacting with employees to create community through Employee Resource Groups; partnered with Talent Development to build inclusive training programs representative of the workforce; and continued to leverage her Talent Acquisition experience to ensure equity across the system.

Today, Jocelyn is the Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Manager at BuzzFeed, Inc. She oversees six ERGs, builds and facilitates regular diversity training opportunities, and provides support for employees struggling to find a sense of belonging. For Jocelyn, working in DEI has always meant listening to the needs of others and meeting people where they’re at. The overwhelming need for psychological safety in the workforce - for a sense of purpose, belonging, hope and community - have remained constant throughout her career in DEI. How she helps create these opportunities for the workforce is the challenge, but one Jocelyn has come to enjoy and find a deep appreciation for.

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