Embrace new experiences, Tripathi advises

With the beginning of the spring semester — and the new year —President Satish K. Tripathi urged members of the UB community to step outside their comfort zones and embrace new experiences.

“Every field of study and every profession has its own particular rhythm, and no doubt each of us will quickly settle into that pace as the new semester gets underway,” Tripathi wrote in his traditional “welcome-back” email to the campus community. “But while the new year is still fresh — before we all become caught up in the daily excitement and challenges of our own particular fields and pursuits — I encourage each of us to find ways to step out­ of that pace when we can as well.”

Tripathi noted that one of the best things about his job as UB president is that it gives him the opportunity to step outside his own academic discipline and profession, and learn new things.

UB’s diversity of viewpoints, backgrounds and expertise offers faculty, staff and students the same opportunity, he wrote.

“Maybe that means striking up a conversation with someone you’ve never talked to before, in a field you know little about,” he wrote. “Maybe it means taking a chance on an intriguing course outside your major, or going to a lecture, concert or conference outside your area of expertise. Or maybe it means taking a different daily route to and from your office so you have the chance to encounter new people, new sights and new ideas each day.”

Great ideas and big discoveries — like those made at UB every day — are made “when we step outside the comfort zone and beyond our own immediate experience.” Tripathi wrote.

“They’re made at the intersection of different fields and different vantage points — where different perspectives come together to tackle a challenge from multiple points of view. And every new conversation, scholarly collaboration and unexpected intellectual experience brings an opportunity for these intersections to take place.”

The full message can be viewed on the Office of the President website.