Do you remember the viral video of a little four-year-old Iranian boy named Arat Hosseini trying to do box jumps? Arat tries and fails nine times. Then, his dad, Mohamed, enters the frame and gives his son a pep talk. On the very next attempt, Arat lands the jump. On top of the box, he double fist pumps before jumping into his father’s arms.
This is what “Luctor et emergo”—“I struggle and emerge”—is all about. It is not about pointless struggle. It’s about being by their side, encouraging them, picking them up when they fall, telling them what they need to hear when they need to hear it. It’s being like Mohamed the box-jump dad, not John Roderick the bean dad.