The Last Lecture and Tuesdays with Morrie

Tonight, after I sent the book, The Last Lecture, to a friend for her birthday, I decided to sit down and watch the lecture that Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. What a wonderful reminder of those people in our lives, our friends, mentors, and professors who propel us to do great things. The lecture was incredible...it was funny and yet through this guy's life, you can see the influences that others have on us.

Last year, I went to Butler University for the Undergraduate Research Conference. Due to a slight oversight, my faculty advisor and I had to make some final adjustments. Well, we went for a bit of a stroll after fixing that minor problem. It was an amazing spring day, and if you have ever been to Butler, you know it is a beautiful campus. Anyway, she asked me if I had ever considered graduate school. And to be honest, at that point, the answer was not really (at least not until later in life). It was perhaps a defining moment in my life. You know that feeling you get when someone believes in you as person, and in this case, as a scholar. She certainly has seen things in me that I didn't even know existed. The conversation about grad school continued, but later shifted to other things, like literature. Nonetheless, she planted a seed. What an amazing professor she is and what an incredible influence she has been on my life! The "Last Lecture" made me remember that.

Tuesdays with Morrie also shows a professor's commitment to his students. It's a beautiful thing to read about, but to have a professor do that, it's an incredible gift that he or she gives to students.

yac