I recently found out that a guy with whom I graduated high school, Jay Rubenstein, won a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (they used to call this a Genius Grant). In addition to being very impressed by Jay's accomplishment it occurred to me that we can all learn something from him.

First a little background. I went to high school in a little town (approx 8,000 people) called Cushing, Oklahoma which is known for being the pipeline capital of the U.S. (seriously). Cushing's economy revolves around the oil and gas industry. Upon graduation, many kids from my high school went straight to work in the oil fields because the pay was good and college wasn't necessary for a career on an oil rig.

Maybe that is why the public primary and secondary education system in Cushing wasn't particularly rigorous. When I arrived at the University of Chicago I found out just how unprepared I was for the demands of top tier college education. I hung in there and graduated but it wasn't fun and it sure wasn't easy. I wanted that education so badly that I was willing to do whatever it took to earn it. So I dug my heels in and worked with tutors, studied constantly, and got used to not earning 'A' grades like I did in high school.

Back to Jay Rubenstein. In Cushing, it was universally accepted as a fact that Jay was the smartest kid in our 130-person graduating class and was probably the smartest person to ever attend Cushing schools. After graduation he went on to attend Carleton College which is a small and rigorous liberal arts college in Minnesota. At a school like Carleton, most of its students are probably graduates of elite high schools with excellent college preparatory programs. Although I have never discussed the issue with Jay, I would guess that even as smart as he is, the first year or so of college were probably challenging since his high school did not offer coursework designed to prepare graduates for top tier colleges.

At Carleton, Jay became interested in Medieval History and apparently excelled in his studies because he won a Rhodes Scholarship. The Rhodes took him to Oxford University where he continued his studies in Medieval History. After earning his Masters from Oxford he returned to the U.S. and got a Ph.D. Jay's research on the profound effects that the First Crusade had on European culture earned him a Mellon Fellowship to conduct research at Paris's Bibliothèque Nationale. And now he has won a MacArthur Fellowship.

The point is this: no matter what your background, if you want something badly enough and you are willing to work hard - you can achieve it. We have all heard that statement so many times that I wonder if it has become trite? Sometimes I think that people don't really take it to heart. Passion, persistence, and plain old hard work really are the keys to the kingdom. Jay is a shining example of what happens when someone works hard at something they really love. The combination of a passion for what he is doing and a willingness to work hard have helped Jay to win one of the most prestigious awards in the world.

Few among us will ever win a MacArthur Fellowship but I believe that with passion, hard work, and persistence anyone can achieve anything. To quote Mohammed Ali, "The will must be greater than the skill."

Don't get discouraged when you are trying to achieve something big like applying to a great college/graduate school, searching for your dream job, studying an obscure field like Medieval History, or training to climb Mount Everest. If you can dream it you can do it.

Oh and by the way, congratulations Jay, you continue to inspire and amaze.