DOWAGIAC — A local college will host a lecture addressing the fear of failure.

Dr. Lisa Park will speak at Southwestern Michigan College March 11 on “Do the Next Right Thing: Learning from Failures and the Fear of Failing.”

Park, who speaks at 3 p.m. in the Student Activity Center theatre as part of SMC’s Academic Speaker Series, will discuss how she found it possible to make a good life because of “challenges” or “failures,” rather than in spite of them, by using creativity and by not expecting perfection. She will also be guest of honor at a private TRiO Student Support Services networking event immediately following her lecture. 

The Academic Speaker Series is free and open to the public.

At the age of 18, just after high school, Park was jailed for being homeless in the French Quarter of New Orleans, then spent parts of the next year traveling on a Greyhound bus or hitchhiking and living in abandoned buildings. 

At the age of 24, she became the youngest store manager for a national natural foods grocery store chain.

At the age of 36, she earned a Ph.D. in chemistry and became a college professor.

She now holds the position of Primary Patent Examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a creative job that combines scientific expertise with law and writing.