Going Through a Tough Time? University of Michigan Dean Anne Curzan Says Learning How to “Recombobulate” is the Secret to Tackling Any Challenge

On May 2, 2020, I was set to give a commencement address to the University of Michigan Class of 2020. That Saturday morning, rather than being at the Stadium in my regalia, I took a walk through a deserted campus.

I remember seeing a lone graduate, in cap and gown, standing in front of Hatcher Library with one friend taking a photo. It felt bone-deep sad, and as I walked, I was wracking my brain: What could we have done differently to celebrate this class, within all the constraints, with all the uncertainty and fear?

And I wasn’t the only one thinking about what we could have done differently! I returned home to find my inbox filled with sad and some angry emails from graduates and their families. One from a graduating senior had the subject line “Do We Matter?” and I could feel this graduate’s pain and disappointment, which I know so many experienced.

We were all discombobulated. It was a time when many of us were wiping down groceries, scared to touch doorknobs, and living and working within bubbles.

A few weeks ago, I was able to wear my cap and gown and officially celebrate the Class of 2020 at their belated commencement. It was truly joyful to be together, in person, and in my commencement address that day, I highlighted how we’ve all had time to recombobulate.

This is a relatively new word, recombobulate. It comes from the Milwaukee Airport, where after you get through security you find “The Recombobulation Area.” It is where you put your belt and shoes back on, get your electronics back in your bag—you know the drill.

Quality recombobulation is a key skill in life. It acknowledges that life can kick us around and leave us in disarray, discombobulated. Then we recombobulate, knowing we’ll have to do it again.

(If you’re thinking, “Recombobulate’s not a word,” please know you’re talking to a linguist, and I recommend you embrace this word—it’s a good one!)

Here’s a more profound version of this point, which I learned from a dear friend, who is of Haitian descent. There is a proverb in Haitian culture: “Beyond mountains, there are mountains.” (This may sound familiar if you know the book Mountains Beyond Mountains about Paul Farmer, a leader in global public health, who passed away this winter.) Perhaps right now you’re thinking, “Um, thanks? You’re saying life is all mountains?”

I know: When times are hard—as the past two years have been—it can be tempting to wish that life would just be flat terrain from here. But to wish away the mountains, first, isn’t possible, and second, risks missing opportunity.

There’s real inspiration in this proverb.

For my friend, as a doctor in global public health, it is the recognition that life will come as a series of challenges. Relish overcoming one, and then don’t let the next one throw you: “What, another mountain?” Instead, you can say to yourself, “I was expecting you.” It is the next opportunity to do better, learn more, help others.

And for the complex problems we collectively face—racial injustice, climate change, war and threats to democracy, radical inequality, health disparities—it is going to take all of us, together, with resolve and humility, greeting those mountains as they come.

I also like to believe that climbing each mountain can make us stronger and better prepared for the next one. We can say, “I’ve done mountains. I’ve got this.”

What mountains the Class of 2020 climbed to get to their commencement. What mountains all of us have faced since the start of the pandemic. And I’m convinced the world will be a better place because we will all, individually and collectively, summit many more mountains in the years ahead, honing our recombobulation skills along the way.

This essay was adapted from Professor Curzan's “Comeback Commencement” address to the University of Michigan Class of 2020.