Last week I gave myself a reason to start blogging...this week was more about what to write to keep it going. Infact, I was contemplating on whether this blog should be issue-based or just some random stuff that I reflect upon everyday. I prefer the latter, not because there is a dearth of issues to talk about, but because I'd prefer to have some randomness in my other wise structured life as a grad student.
Anyway...has anyone checked out the Randy Pausch lecture on Youtube? Its by a professor at the CS dept. in Carnegie Mellon University who has been diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer and has about 4 months to live. In an attempt to leave a message for his three little kids about what their father stood for in his life, he delivered his "last lecture" at CMU and had it recorded. The lecture reminded me of the film Anand which was based on the protagonist being in a similar situation and what he chooses to do with his life. One of the most poignant statements Randy makes is "Its not important what cards you've received; you cannot change that, its how you play your hand". Its one of the most inspiring and profoundly stimulating lectures I have ever heard. I am so glad I clicked on the link that Rajeev (one of my school friends) sent me. Rajeev sends innumerable forwards and "do watch" links every week, and I don't always go by his advice. But, I am so glad I followed it this time. Like he said in the email, if this dosen't inspire you....nothing will. Very true. That is the only description I can think of for these videos. Do watch it; but only when you have some spare time at hand and you have no commitments immediately, because once you start you will want to watch all the 10 lectures of 10 min each. Not even the worry that someone might dump my clothes out of the drier in our common laundry room ( yeah thats possible here ....this is Texas !) could prevent me from taking a break from watching this. So watch it and let me know what you thought about it.
1 comment:
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
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