Of Eagles and Cockroaches

****Welcome to all who visit from Bowden's Blog Counseling Notes. Sorry for the mess! I would've tried to straighten up a bit if I had known company was coming.****


I am very fortunate to have a strong mentor on campus. Because he has been through so many campus wars over the years (he’s been here since the seventies) the junior faculty in the department refer to him as the Colonel. He has been a repository of academic and personal wisdom that has proven to be invaluable to me on numerous occasions. He’s also exceptionally gifted at sharing the oral tradition of how things have gone on here on campus. He knows, as they say, where all the bodies are buried. But the scars of battles fought have definitely affected his outlook on things.

Shortly after I arrived, he called me into his office for a bit of mentoring and we had the following conversation.

“Taran,” he began, “You really need to take stock of your career.”

I nodded.

He continued. “You see, there are two types of people on this campus.” Here he paused for a minute, deep in thought as he sought an appropriate metaphor.

“There are a very few go-getters around here who are a lot like eagles.” His speech began to grow stronger (not unlike a large bird taking flight). “Yes, there are a few people here who work hard, jump out of the nest and soar very high above the rest of us.”

I nodded again, seeing the direction that this advice was going.

He continued:

“They are majestic colleagues, these eagles. They work hard, provide quality in all that they do, and leave the rest of us peons down here on the earth.”

“They really excel!” I said, catching onto the direction of this conversation.

“Exactly!” responded the Colonel.

“But then,” the Colonel’s voice grew increasingly grave, “there are the others. They are not eagles, but ummmm… cockroaches.”

I wasn’t expecting a metaphorical segue of that nature and I must’ve looked a bit startled because he repeated. “That’s right, they are cockroaches.”

“How are they like cockroaches?” I asked.

“Well, they lay in the dark and scuttle about their business. They do all their work behind the scenes and generally stay away from the light. They focus on their own stuff.” he stated.

I started nodding again. “I think I understand your point. Eagles soar and are concerned about the entire organization, while cockroaches scurry around unseen and are only concerned with their own small corner of the world.”

The Colonel looked very proud. He said “Taran, you might have a future around here yet!”

I grinned back and said “Now I just need to start soaring like an eagle!”

Now it was the Colonel’s turn to look startled.

“What?!” he exclaimed.

“Well,” I said tentatively, “Since I want to excel and make an impact around here, I need to strive to be an eagle.”

At this statement, he leaned back against his chair and slowly rubbed his eyes. After a moment of regaining his patience he then began to speak to me like I was four years old.

“Taran, if you want to survive in this place, you’ve gotta think like a cockroach. Be the cockroach, not the eagle.”

He saw the confused look in my eyes and decided to try a Socratic tactic.

“What are there more of in this world, cockroaches or eagles?” he patiently asked.

“Ummm….cockroaches?” I replied.

“Yes,” he nodded condescendingly. “A lot more. The eagles attract the arrows and nobody pays any attention to the cockroaches. A nuclear bomb goes off and the cockroaches survive. But the eagle is on the endangered species list."

"You don’t want to be an eagle.”

He got up out of the chair and finished the conversation. “Remember Taran, be the cockroach.”

I was stunned.

All I could think to say was “But…..eagles get to fly.”

He paused at the door, slowly turned to me and said with a wink:

“Cockroaches fly too, Taran.”

And then he flew out the door!