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Be Great, Make Others Great O Values instilled in me by my father and reinforced at KUA have always guided me in my profession and in my responsibility to my family and community. BY DHAMEY NORGAY ’89
50
KIMBALL UNION MAGAZINE
n July 14, 2015, NASA achieved yet another awesome feat in space exploration when its New Horizons space probe made a historic fly-by of Pluto. The images that New Horizons relayed to us back on Earth were spectacular. For my family, the image that captivated us most was of Norgay Montes, a mountain range that NASA named after my late father, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. An explorer himself, Tenzing Norgay pushed the limits of human endurance when he and his climbing partner, Sir Edmund Hillary, were the first to summit Mount Everest in 1953. How are the achievements of NASA and Tenzing Norgay relevant to an education at Kimball Union Academy? As a former student of KUA, I see many similarities. These include the development of leadership skills, value of teamwork, the pursuit of excellence, respect for tradition and culture, and maintaining humility and the highest standards of integrity. These values instilled in me by my father and reinforced at KUA have always guided me in my profession and in my responsibility to my family and community. My time at KUA remains an important chapter in my life and left an indelible mark on me. I made life-long friends and had teachers who remain my mentors and well-wishers for whom I have the highest regard. Looking back, I find that thinking of KUA brings back many memorable moments. When I left my hometown of Darjeeling, India, my friends thought I was so lucky to be going to America. Our exposure to America at that time was from Hollywood and we had images of how things were so big and life was so fast. Arriving in Meriden was a surprise. It was much smaller, quieter, and colder than Darjeeling! However, the spectacular colors of the New England fall lifted my spirits and its beauty remains etched in my memory. On the first day of school, I did not leave my room—I was shy, culture-shocked, and intimidated
by my new environment. Summoning up my courage and reflecting on why I was at KUA, and with the warmth and support my friends and teachers provided me, it did not take long for me to adjust to my new life. Many holidays were spent with friends at their homes and I was never homesick. This fall marks a significant event in my family, as my son, Khenrab Norgay will be joining the KUA Class of 2019. As parents, one of our greatest responsibilities is to give our children the best educational experience. For my wife and I, it is at KUA! My advice to Khenrab and to students at KUA is to enjoy your experience at school. Make new friends, jump at all the opportunities offered to you, be responsible, challenge yourself, and don’t let failures set you back. This little-known fact might be helpful! My father had six failed attempts on Everest. From every failure, he learned and gained confidence until he reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. So let failure be a stepping-stone for the achievements of greater success. The core values I learned at KUA and those that got Tenzing Norgay to the top of Everest 63 years ago remain vitally important today. They are particularly relevant at the present time, when innovation and technology are continually reshaping our lives. Let me conclude by sharing a quote from my father that has always inspired me and that I hope will inspire each one of you as well: “You cannot be a good mountaineer, however great your ability, unless you are cheerful and have the spirit of comradeship. Friends are as important as achievement ... teamwork is the one key to success and selfishness only makes a man small. No man, on a mountain or elsewhere, gets more out of anything than he puts into it. Be Great, Make Others Great.” —Tenzing Norgay, Tiger of the Snows