I’ve been thinking a lot about Professor Randy Pausch lately, one of the bazillion professors at CMU I never had during my 4 years there as a student. (One of the reasons I’m sad I graduated; but then again…) Essentially, here’s the rundown on who he is and what he’s done lately to be newsworthy. He’s a terrific man. His last lecture was incredible. (Too bad I wasn’t on campus or I would have forced myself into McConomy.) We discovered this a few days after the lecture; Good Morning America was doing a piece showing clips and Bryan said, “Hey, that looks a lot like McConomy Auditorium,” the biggest auditorium on campus, used for big events like lectures and movies. It houses about 500. And sure enough it was. The press Dr. Pausch has been receiving is incredible but also incredibly well-deserved. He’s a great guy and doesn’t have much time left. I’m glad people are getting a chance to get to know him — and by extension, CMU! It makes me really proud to know that a lot of people might be considering CMU a little more seriously because of him — or perhaps they’ve been introduced to it for the first time. He even says on his website that people should consider Carnegie Mellon as a place to send their kids. How cool. I wonder what the Office of Admissions has thought of all of this press.

Anyway his lecture, “Lessons to Live By,” is terrific. I highly recommend watching it.

Edit: On a side note, I received an actual application for admissions to Carnegie Mellon in the mail today. They send all the material they send to prospective students to the CMAC members (Carnegie Mellon Admission Council) and I have to say that I am phenomenally glad I don’t have to apply to college again — not for any other reason than to have to relive high school again. I’d gladly relive college (sometimes I wish I could, parts of it) but I’d never, ever want to relive high school. Standardized tests, social awkwardness… never. Don’t get me wrong: I’d do things differently. I’m much wiser now. But how can I know that if I did those things the person I am today would be that same person? I don’t think I would be. If I did better on the SATs (one of those things I’d change) I might have gotten into different colleges, and I might never have discovered how wonderful Carnegie Mellon is. If I’d done things differently… I can’t say. We are who we have made ourselves. I’ve made myself who I am and I can’t want to change the person I am now… too much.