back?
So, I know I never write in this...but maybe I'll start again. The reason I'm writing today is because of what I was thinking about on my ride to lab this morning... I feel it should be written...mostly as a reminder to myself...
I woke up this morning and read that Dr. Randy Pausch had died. I was deeply saddened. His last lecture touched me... and I am impressed by his accomplishments...things I find amazing like the ETC and Alice and BVW.
So, as I rode to lab, I thought, what would I say if someone asked me about him? I never met him. I don't know that I ever even saw him in person... but hearing his lecture, I was proud to be associated with CMU and thus somehow with him. Actually, the time that touched me the most was when I was teaching Intro to Computer Science here @ Berkeley. One of my students asked if I had known him, and a few others mentioned that they had heard the lecture and been inspired by it. When I realized that, across the US, he had influenced these students, I knew he was a hero.
What also made me sad today was realizing what it took for a man like Dr. Pausch to reach the level of recognition that he did. He was inspirational, he was influential in his field, he was a risk taker and developed a program that allows students to combine art and technology. Yet it took a terminal illness to bring him the recognition he deserved.
We look at the newspapers and we see story after story about another celebrity in rehab or in a relationship or breaking the law... but why are they famous? Why are they on the front page? Because they act or sing. But what about the professors who only have the lecture hall as a stage and yet day in and day out inspire, teach, invent, develop, experiment, and create? Aren't they the ones who really change the world? Maybe it's because their accomplishments are harder to explain or qualify. Maybe it's because the professors and teachers challenge us...and we don't want the challenge. It takes work to live your dreams like Dr. Pausch did. It takes courage, hard work, strength, and passion...and maybe we don't want to hear it because we aren't sure that we can't live up to it.
But I'm no better than the media. I sit here now and wonder if I can do it. Can I live out my childhood dreams? Do I even know what they are? Maybe it's defining your dreams that's important...and the risky part. If you set a goal, you can fail... Maybe that's why we have to rely on childhood dreams...when we weren't yet afraid to fail...back to those initial dreams before the fear...
So what were mine? The only dream I can remember is wanting to be a concert pianist. I still remember pretending I was in a music hall and flipping my tux tails over the bench as I sat to play (yeah, i my dreams i wore a tux...only for the effect of flipping the tails though). Have I achieved this? I'm not sure. I certainly am not a concert pianist though I have played piano in concerts... but is there more to it than the surface? I still have work to do.
Tonight, I pray for Dr. Pausch's family, friends, and students that they may find solace in a life well lived. I also pray for everyone who heard or will hear his last lecture or read his book and ask that they may have the courage to realize those dreams and fight to achieve them. And I pray a prayer of Thanksgiving for such a wonderful man who's words have inspired so many and who's actions have changed many lives.
I woke up this morning and read that Dr. Randy Pausch had died. I was deeply saddened. His last lecture touched me... and I am impressed by his accomplishments...things I find amazing like the ETC and Alice and BVW.
So, as I rode to lab, I thought, what would I say if someone asked me about him? I never met him. I don't know that I ever even saw him in person... but hearing his lecture, I was proud to be associated with CMU and thus somehow with him. Actually, the time that touched me the most was when I was teaching Intro to Computer Science here @ Berkeley. One of my students asked if I had known him, and a few others mentioned that they had heard the lecture and been inspired by it. When I realized that, across the US, he had influenced these students, I knew he was a hero.
What also made me sad today was realizing what it took for a man like Dr. Pausch to reach the level of recognition that he did. He was inspirational, he was influential in his field, he was a risk taker and developed a program that allows students to combine art and technology. Yet it took a terminal illness to bring him the recognition he deserved.
We look at the newspapers and we see story after story about another celebrity in rehab or in a relationship or breaking the law... but why are they famous? Why are they on the front page? Because they act or sing. But what about the professors who only have the lecture hall as a stage and yet day in and day out inspire, teach, invent, develop, experiment, and create? Aren't they the ones who really change the world? Maybe it's because their accomplishments are harder to explain or qualify. Maybe it's because the professors and teachers challenge us...and we don't want the challenge. It takes work to live your dreams like Dr. Pausch did. It takes courage, hard work, strength, and passion...and maybe we don't want to hear it because we aren't sure that we can't live up to it.
But I'm no better than the media. I sit here now and wonder if I can do it. Can I live out my childhood dreams? Do I even know what they are? Maybe it's defining your dreams that's important...and the risky part. If you set a goal, you can fail... Maybe that's why we have to rely on childhood dreams...when we weren't yet afraid to fail...back to those initial dreams before the fear...
So what were mine? The only dream I can remember is wanting to be a concert pianist. I still remember pretending I was in a music hall and flipping my tux tails over the bench as I sat to play (yeah, i my dreams i wore a tux...only for the effect of flipping the tails though). Have I achieved this? I'm not sure. I certainly am not a concert pianist though I have played piano in concerts... but is there more to it than the surface? I still have work to do.
Tonight, I pray for Dr. Pausch's family, friends, and students that they may find solace in a life well lived. I also pray for everyone who heard or will hear his last lecture or read his book and ask that they may have the courage to realize those dreams and fight to achieve them. And I pray a prayer of Thanksgiving for such a wonderful man who's words have inspired so many and who's actions have changed many lives.