It’s more than just a teddy bear. At least to President Nido R. Qubein.
It’s a good memory of his own children, of a time when they were young. During a family vacation, when they were no older than 6, his daughter and son pooled their money and bought a teddy bear to share.
But today, when he sees a teddy bear, Dr. Qubein thinks of a nurse helping a cancer patient or a sister reaching out to her brother she hadn’t talked to in a decade.
For him, the quintessential symbol of child-like innocence is an important lesson in life that revolves around love, safety and stewardship.
Dr. Qubein mentions those words often during his Presidential Life Skills Seminar he gives every year to all HPU freshmen. He talked about it Thursday, and when he did, he gave every freshman a teddy bear.
He had on hand 1,500 teddy bears the school had bought from the American Red Cross, and student volunteers inside the Hayworth Fine Arts Center gave every freshman who came a teddy bear.
Soon, though, they’ll face a moment of truth. They’ll have to give it away. And they’ll give it to somebody they keep close to their heart.
That is exactly what Dr. Qubein wants to happen. When it does, he believes the teenagers he taught Thursday will begin to understand.
“You can play with the teddy bear, sleep with the teddy bear, put it on a shelf, but between now and Christmas, I want you to give it away,’’ said Dr. Qubein, holding a teddy bear in his hands.
“The whole idea is for you to get attached to the teddy bear first so it will become part of your life, a part of you,’’ he said. “Then, I want you to give it away. That’s an important part of stewardship. You give something of yourself away.
“And don’t give it to the first person you see. No, no. I want you to be introspective. I want you to think of our own sense of giving. I want you to picture someone who has impacted your life, a teacher, a grandfather, a brother.’’
As he does often, Dr. Qubein then told stories to hammer that home.
He first talked about a letter. It came from the CEO of the Mayo Clinic Hospital in New York City. He told the story of one of his hospital’s patients, a grandfather, who was trying to beat cancer. He lost.
Following his death, his granddaughter gave her grandfather’s nurse a teddy bear Dr. Qubein had given her at HPU. That simple act of kindness became Mayo Clinic’s symbol of caring.
The second story told dealt with a brief conversation. A few years back, an HPU freshman told Dr. Qubein she wanted to give the teddy bear to her homeless brother battling drug addiction.
A few months later, she talked to Dr. Qubein again.
“You won’t believe what happened,’’ she told him. “I hadn’t talked to my brother in 10 years, and when I gave him the teddy bear, something amazing happened. He cleaned up his life. He got off drugs. We’re talking. My prayers have been answered.’’
After the 80-minute session ended, freshmen filed out with teddy bears in hand. They laughed, tossed the teddy bear from friend to friend, or cradled it in their arms like a football.
Byron Horton, a freshman from Raleigh, stuck his teddy bear in his backpack. Like his classmates, he thought about who and what.
“Life is really all about relationships, and when I was thinking about who I would give it to, a lot of people came to mind,’’ he said. “First, my father. He taught me to value relationships. Then, a teacher. She taught me science for three years.’’
So it went with every freshman leaving Hayworth Fine Arts Center Thursday. Many wondered where their teddy bear would go.
Erin Murphy from Wake Forest, a member of HPU’s Big Brothers Big Sisters club, wants to give hers to the girl she mentors. Colleen Caherty of Washington, D.C., wants to give hers to her father, who travels for work all the time.
Meanwhile, Jessica Joyce of West Hartford, Connecticut, wants to find her high school English teacher. Her name is Ms. Apple, and she introduced Jessica to the book “The Virgin Suicides’’ and the wonders of literature.
Ms. Apple is the reason Jessica is majoring in English at HPU. To Jessica, Ms. Apple earned a teddy bear.
“It’s a lesson in selflessness,’’ said Jessica of her teddy bear. “It’s giving something of yourself to someone who was important in your life. I like that.”
Dr. Qubein likes that, too.