Stephen Spahn

“No one should expect anything to be handed to them, anything in life should be learned, cultivated, and relearned again, if we are ever to make strides forward.”

Stephan Spahn is eighty years old and was born and raised in New York City. He has two children and four grandchildren. He said that helping his children pursue their own passions and become independent was very important to him and watching them grow up was extremely rewarding. Stephan attended Dartmouth College, Oxford University, Colombia University and also took part in a program specializing in computer science at MIT. As a young adult, he worked his first job at an assembly line creating hot water supply systems, he also had a position analyzing different development projects for the United Nations. Stephan worked at an independent consulting review which included the Health Survey of Nepal building an orphanage in Vietnam and running a hospital in Laos. He continued his career, going on to teach Philosophy and Economics to juniors and seniors at The Franklin School. He then became Headmaster after spending six months as the Assistant Head Master of the Dwight School. Through his jobs, he learned that: “Ordinary people can do extraordinary things” and “You must know the end before you begin any task.”

Stephan explained that he had two great inspirations; his father and father-in-law. He says that his father broke everything down to its simplest components, he taught him how to write at a very young age, taught him about humility, and that “practice is essential to achieve anything, and it is important to put yourself in different situations in order to fully develop your abilities.”

His father-in-law taught him “that training others to become leaders was the job of any true person who headed an institution” and “You need the respect of everyone in an organization if you were going to create anything that is lasting and worthwhile.” He also learned from his father-in-law that, you have to respect tradition but embrace the future.”

“Life is a never-ending process.” Stephan passed this on to his children. He says that “It is easy for a person to become successful on their own, but true success is if the next generation can stand on their shoulders and can go further.” He says this is symbolized by Dwight.

Stephan talks about his great life lessons saying that “Persistence, will, and determination, are necessary for us to take steps forward.” In his life, “Sports were the greatest trainer because they require you to analyze and put into action little motions and efforts which allow us to make great strides”

It is important to “Find what you love, perfect that into your learning so you can reach a level which brings joy, so hard work is no longer viewed as just a necessity but it becomes something that allows you to embrace all the difficulties, failures and successes.”