Issue date: 4/14/09 Section: News

Junior elementary education major Ariana Falk, left, along with sophomore accounting major Suzanna Cassida, center, and sophomore communication disorders major Stephanie Fanale, right, react to the video "The Last Lecture" on Monday in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. (Karolina Strack/The Daily Eastern News)

Lucia Schroeder, education professor, gave the speech "Whose Shoes" at the University Board's Last Lecture series Monday in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

The event recreated the feel of "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. Pausch was a professor of computer science who had the opportunity to give his last lecture at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh when he was diagnosed with cancer and forced to retire.

A video of his speech was watched at the event and Eastern professors then gave what they thought would be good ideas for their last lectures.

In the beginning of her lecture, Schroeder had everyone stand up to see if anyone had matching shoes.

No one did.

This showed that everyone is different. She also discussed empathy and understanding and whose shoes people are willing to walk in. She also discussed different kinds of shoes, or lack thereof, such as bare feet, baby shoes, sandals, sports shoes and work shoes and how they signify diversity.

"Be open to caring for other students because they have so much to share," she said.

Rigo Chinchilla, professor in the School of Technology, gave the speech "Surviving College in Difficult Times… Never Give Up!"

He talked about his own life experiences.

He said when he went to Inframan High School in El Salvador, some of his friends were killed in guerilla warfare. He was also told not to apply to college.

"People said I had zero chance and that I shouldn't even apply and I should focus on the community," he said.

He ended up attending Autonomous University of Central America.

Chinchilla told students to take their academics seriously, try to learn and to never give up.

Diana Wyatt, professor in the School of Technology, gave the lecture "Expectations and the Journey." She discussed learning as individuals and being resilient.

Wyatt gave a fake example of someone who wanted to take a trip to Italy, but ended up in Holland instead.

"Even though it is not where you wanted to go, you should make your experience positive," Wyatt said. "Then you can begin your journey."

She also talked about goals, expectations and plans.

"What's important is the journey in between," Wyatt said.

She gave the analogy of two trails on a railroad track.

"New graduates are definitely going in a new direction," she said. "Reflect and enjoy the moment you are in."

Rebecca Merten of the nursing department presented "On the Corner of Being and Broadway," which addressed questions such as "who am I, where am I going and what is my purpose?"

These questions were answered through the use of Broadway plays, such as "The Lion King," "Les Miserables" and "Wicked."

Merten said most people are looking for intimacy, beauty and adventure in their lives, but a lot only get isolation, boredom and cynicism.

"People shoot you with an arrow and sometimes you think you might as well give up," she said.

Otis Seawood, Jr., a senior family and consumer science major and UB special events coordinator, liked the way the event took professors out of their usual atmospheres.

"I liked seeing the different professors talk about things out of the norm," he said. "I also liked hearing about their different life experiences."

The UB Lectures sponsored the event and prizes were given away throughout the night.

There will be a second set of lectures in the Grand Ballroom today at 7:15 p.m. with another showing of the "Last Lecture" at 6 p.m.


Heather Holm can be reached at 581-7942 or at haholm@eiu.edu.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools

The Daily Eastern News encourages on-topic, civil discussion on its articles posted online. It is our policy not to screen comments before they are posted or edit them after they are posted. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are off-topic, malicious, libelous or include excessive foul language. The DEN also reserves the right to turn off all comments on any story it deems necessary.

Comments violating copyright law will also be removed.

Users who repeatedly violate this policy will be banned from commenting.

If you have any questions on our comment policy or wish to report a comment that you feel violates these standards, please e-mail a link to the article to our Online Editor at DENNews.com@gmail.com.