personally though, it was such an inspiring speech i dunno how anyone can sleep, but that's just me. it was a speech by Professor Randy Pausch from Carnegie-Mellon U. it was part of a "Last Lecture" series where the theme was kinda like if you had one last lecture to give, what would you say.
it was kinda like those wow-moments that Prof Estad talks about, except that the WHOLE speech was a wow-moment.
i had several key takeaways from the speech.
1. Brick walls are there to show you how badly you want things - they're meant for keeping the REST out!
2. Always have fun. In fact, try not to know how not to have fun!
3. Give people time. The good in them will shine through eventually.
now for number 1, it really struck a chord. everybody's had moments where they don't know whether to give up. it goes somewhat like this: you find a cause worth time and effort. you put in what you've got. hell you put in more than that, you put in things you didnt even know you had or could do. there's some progress and then it stagnates. and you're left wondering whether you missed something. it's times like that when you wonder whether you're still doing the right thing. and i was at such a cross-roads. so to hear that message about break walls really meant a lot to me. i thought to myself, how badly do i want it? and of course to answer that question, you first have to ask yourself, is it worth it? when broken down into such simple terms, it became really easy to see. cause it's definitely worth it. and i'm not giving up that easily.
number 2 was something good to hear too! i mean i'm all about having fun haha. reminds me of a little rant during one of my LTB meetings last week. i guess i reacted slightly strongly to the suggestion that we could be more focused. i said "i really don't think that's the case. and if it were up to me, i wouldnt change a thing. why? because we're effective. we manage to accomplish everything that we set out to do. and we have fun along the way, which is a great thing. i mean sure we can be more efficient by having less fun. but then where do you draw the line? the best efficiency is achieved when you have zero fun. is that what we want?" on hindsight, it seems quite eloquent haha. ok /shameless. but i dunno if i came across too strongly.
for number 3, i dont really have much to say, except that it's a good lesson to bear in mind. because that's something that i lack.
ahh, it's the last week of classes. i know i'm gonna miss some of my friends, especially my LTB team mates. i'll be the first to admit, for quite awhile i was thinking "this looks like it's gonna be a strict working-relationship." and to some extent, it was. we met for meetings and disappeared after that. even lunch was a rarity. but the whole hospitalisation incident really changed my outlook of my team. we put work aside and went to visit meaghan in hospital. the atmosphere was unbelievable. care and concern really filled the room. and we, or at least i, felt her determination to participate. also, i felt her pride at being part of the team when we showed her our presentation. then after that when we all went for supper, that was like our first bonding session haha. and from then on, i really felt that this team could go far beyond any working-relationship. we were officially "friends". now i use friends in a strict sense of the word. by friend i dont mean random person who adds you on facebook, i mean someone whom you could hang out with and just talk. in a fast moving world, just chilling and talking is so important, yet always so underrated.
miss the smilers :D
extracted from d A r y L ' s mind at 10:54 PM
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