Third Annual Dinner with a Scientist
Chris Murriel, Senior Scientist in the Department of Cancer Biology at OncoMed Pharmaceuticals conveys to students and parents how many people exist to give them support, encouragement, and a path to success at the third annual Dinner with a Scientist. Below is an excerpt of his speech:
Good afternoon Ravenswood Science Fair Winners! Congratulations on a job well done. No matter how far you got in this competition, you succeeded because you tried. Because you tried, you learned. And because you learned, you have shown others that no matter how underserved people think you are, it does not affect your current or future success.
I would like to take this time to thank the Ravenswood Education Foundation and Ken Nadeau for the invitation to speak to you tonight. It is a great honor. I would also like to thank Elizabeth Schar, Courtney Moulds, Skip Bond, Penelope Bowen, and my OncoMed family including CEO Paul Hastings, Dr. Jennifer Cain, Dr. Belinda Cancilla, Dr. Jim Wong, Dr. Breanna Wallace, Dr. Rene Meisner, and all of the other volunteers from Bay Area companies and academic institutions that work tirelessly with Science and Physics labs at the various schools in the Ravenswood School District.
How many of you have looked up at the night sky and wondered what else is out there, why there are so many stars in the night sky, why the sky is blue in the day but can turn dark with clouds? How many of you are so eager to ask where babies come from or why your teeth fall out only to grow new ones? Or better yet, how many of you still want to understand how mixing detergent and alcohol in a bag containing a smashed strawberry gave you that stringy snot-like stuff we called DNA? Those questions and more have been asked by generations before you and will be asked by even more generations after you. But the one thing that gives those questions life and a road to discovery is Science!
We live in a time where there is so much amazing technology available to us at the push of a button. Cell phones, apps, online maps, rocket ships, solar panels, wind turbines and the companies that discovered, market, use, and promote them like Google, Uber, OncoMed, Genentech, etc…have all been started on the principles of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Just when you think that everything has been discovered, something new is waiting on the horizon that has yet to be found. Do you know that there is more technology in your cell phone than was used to send men to Moon in 1959?! Literally, you can now track satellites on your cell phone from your bedroom or in the middle of the woods at night. How absolutely amazing is that?!
All of you sitting here represent the best and brightest that your community has to offer. And this community is rich, not only in culture and color and experience, but also in perseverance, and a will to go beyond what is expected, and succeed where others believe you may fail. Case in point…the Ravenswood School District did not have a Science Fair for over 20 years, but just 2 years after starting to compete again, you not only had someone that won at County but also placed at State. That success speaks volumes about the students here and the potential that all of you possess.
There is a proverb whose origins are believed to come from many different African cultures that states, “It takes a Village to raise a child.” Now students, look around you. This is your village. These are your parents, friends, and family…school teachers, staff, principals, school board members…science coordinators and volunteers. Again, this is your village. And this village is here to help you make realities out of your dreams and success out of your ambitions. They are also here to help you believe when you fail, because success is never a guarantee. But failure is never the end, it is merely a chance to begin again. Use all that you have to your advantage, but never stop being curious about the world around you and always look beyond the impossible. Because one day, not only might it be possible…it might be possible because of you.
Again, Congratulations, and here’s to continued success!
Good afternoon Ravenswood Science Fair Winners! Congratulations on a job well done. No matter how far you got in this competition, you succeeded because you tried. Because you tried, you learned. And because you learned, you have shown others that no matter how underserved people think you are, it does not affect your current or future success.
I would like to take this time to thank the Ravenswood Education Foundation and Ken Nadeau for the invitation to speak to you tonight. It is a great honor. I would also like to thank Elizabeth Schar, Courtney Moulds, Skip Bond, Penelope Bowen, and my OncoMed family including CEO Paul Hastings, Dr. Jennifer Cain, Dr. Belinda Cancilla, Dr. Jim Wong, Dr. Breanna Wallace, Dr. Rene Meisner, and all of the other volunteers from Bay Area companies and academic institutions that work tirelessly with Science and Physics labs at the various schools in the Ravenswood School District.
How many of you have looked up at the night sky and wondered what else is out there, why there are so many stars in the night sky, why the sky is blue in the day but can turn dark with clouds? How many of you are so eager to ask where babies come from or why your teeth fall out only to grow new ones? Or better yet, how many of you still want to understand how mixing detergent and alcohol in a bag containing a smashed strawberry gave you that stringy snot-like stuff we called DNA? Those questions and more have been asked by generations before you and will be asked by even more generations after you. But the one thing that gives those questions life and a road to discovery is Science!
We live in a time where there is so much amazing technology available to us at the push of a button. Cell phones, apps, online maps, rocket ships, solar panels, wind turbines and the companies that discovered, market, use, and promote them like Google, Uber, OncoMed, Genentech, etc…have all been started on the principles of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Just when you think that everything has been discovered, something new is waiting on the horizon that has yet to be found. Do you know that there is more technology in your cell phone than was used to send men to Moon in 1959?! Literally, you can now track satellites on your cell phone from your bedroom or in the middle of the woods at night. How absolutely amazing is that?!
All of you sitting here represent the best and brightest that your community has to offer. And this community is rich, not only in culture and color and experience, but also in perseverance, and a will to go beyond what is expected, and succeed where others believe you may fail. Case in point…the Ravenswood School District did not have a Science Fair for over 20 years, but just 2 years after starting to compete again, you not only had someone that won at County but also placed at State. That success speaks volumes about the students here and the potential that all of you possess.
There is a proverb whose origins are believed to come from many different African cultures that states, “It takes a Village to raise a child.” Now students, look around you. This is your village. These are your parents, friends, and family…school teachers, staff, principals, school board members…science coordinators and volunteers. Again, this is your village. And this village is here to help you make realities out of your dreams and success out of your ambitions. They are also here to help you believe when you fail, because success is never a guarantee. But failure is never the end, it is merely a chance to begin again. Use all that you have to your advantage, but never stop being curious about the world around you and always look beyond the impossible. Because one day, not only might it be possible…it might be possible because of you.
Again, Congratulations, and here’s to continued success!
