Do the Hard Thing

“You are part of a legacy that is very, very meaningful,” four-time Olympic medalist Cullen Jones ’02 told Gray Bees gathered in the HAB for Morning Convocation on October 23. Now the Associate Director of Athlete Marketing for the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee and a public advocate for water safety, Mr. Jones, a two-time Olympian, credits his achievements in the sport (he is the first African American to hold a world record in swimming) and current success as a motivational speaker to The Hive. 

Do the work while you’re here, he advised. “The things that you don’t know how to do, the things you need to lean into, that’s the difference between not winning and winning,” Mr. Jones said as he pulled the gold medal he won at the 2012 London Olympics from his pocket. “I did the hard thing. Every one of you can do the hard thing.”