Dr. Mehmet Oz '78 Returns to Tower Hill

By Amy Reynolds, Communications Specialist
This article appeared in the Fall 2017 issue of the Tower Hill Bulletin

“The good life” isn’t about fast cars and fancy clothes. It’s about how living healthy, happy and smart is the key to how well and long we live.

That was the message Dr. Mehmet Oz ‘78 shared with students and faculty during his visit in May—how changes made today can have an impact on one’s life.

“I want to talk to you a little about your own health, because there are themes that I’ll touch on that will allow you, today, to start making decisions to let you live a better life,” the surgeon, professor, author and TV personality said. 

Saving people’s lives is what Oz does for a living. He still performs heart surgeries, but he wants to do more than just save people who are dying. He wants people to take control of their own health, think more about the food they eat and take care of themselves in ways other than taking prescription pills for the rest of their lives.

People control 70 percent of how well and long they live, Oz said, and there are five major life adjustments that impact that 70 percent: blood pressure, 30 minutes of daily exercise, following a healthy diet that’s easy to love, stress control and sleep, and curtailing addictions.

“I never tell people to eat healthy food,” he said. “I tell them to eat food they love that happens to be healthy.”

During his presentation, Oz shared that 57 percent of Americans are stressed, and average life satisfaction is a 6.7 out of 10.

“That’s a D. Who wants to be a D?” he said. “That’s where most of the country is living.”

The secret to success, he said, is finding a reason to make a change.

“You have to give your heart a reason to keep beating,” he said. “And that’s the most important reason I came down here. I treasure and I speak to my teachers that taught me here still today because I value their interaction so much, and I hope you will treasure these exact same things that I did as you walk away from this school.”

Oz credits much of his success to his Middle and Upper School years spent at Tower Hill.

“Tower Hill changed my life in ways that are immeasurable. When you’re released from what you probably perceive as the purgatory of your years here, you’ll look back with great fondness on what this institution has offered you,” he said, mentioning that many benefits come in subtle ways, such as being able to write well. “It’s probably the single biggest thing that differentiates a good education from a bad education, and that’s coming from a doctor.”

During his visit, Oz toured the school with his nephew Ben du Pont ‘20.

“Some of you know I ask a lot of questions, and this is partially due to Dr. Oz. On our family’s summer trips, Mehmet’s constantly asking us questions, and it always fuels my curiosity, and he is a never-ending source of knowledge,” du Pont said when introducing Oz to his classmates. “In many ways, he truly embodies our school motto, Multa Bene Facta, Many Things Done Well.”