Allow me to deviate from the theme of this blog with this personal sidebar observation.
During approximately 30 years as a professor, I tried to practice my belief that what students most want and deserve from us professors is access not only to our content knowledgeable heads, but also to our emotional intellects, as personally revealed by our interest in their self-discovery and well being. I was reminded of that belief when I watched (and now commend to you to watch via YouTube) the "last lecture of Randy Pausch," a 46-year-old Carnegie Mellon professor who is dying prematurely of pancreatic cancer. Professor Pausch's last lecture is a moving testament to taking seriously one's dreams, obligations, colleagues, and, students (especially students) without taking oneself too seriously -- and making the world a better place in doing so. Kudos to Professor Pausch and those who invested themselves in him. Those investments have already generated spectacular returns and will continue to compound for generations to come!
Some lessons from Randy Pausch’s last lecture that especially moved me:
1. Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.
2. Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
3. Never lose the child-like wonder.
4. If we do something which is pioneering, we will get arrows in the back. But at the end of the day, a whole lot of people will have a whole lot of fun.
5. Be good at something; it makes you valuable.
6. If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, and the dreams will come to you.
Check out the tribute quiz on the lecture at www.mystudiyo.com : you can add your own questions at the end of the quiz.
http://www.mystudiyo.com/activity.php?act=558
Posted by: Sara Gold | October 29, 2007 at 11:02 AM