Spring Break
Faculty give their 'last lecture' in their own inspirational words
Madeline Smith / Staff Reporter
Issue date: 4/15/09 Section: News
Faculty from across the university gave their "last lectures" Tuesday night to a crowd of students.
The University Board hosted "The Last Lecture" series, which in an adaptation of Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, who gave his finally lecture before he was forced to retire because of cancer.
Pausch's lecture was based off inspirational tools to help people to succeed by never giving up.
"You can't get there alone, and I believe in Karma," Pausch said in his last lecture.
Pausch died in July.
Shortly after the video presentation, the faculty proceeded and gave their idea of a last lecture and what it meant to them.
Sandy Beherns, a professor of education, gave her lecture "Time," which stood for "today includes more than me."
Beherns spoke about the importance of time and how everyone has 86,400 seconds in a day, 1,440 minutes in a day and time waits for no one.
She talked about the day she got a phone call that her son was in a bad accident where his priorities changed, but he continued to live life to the fullest.
Psychology professor Mike Havey's lecture "The More I Learn, the Less I Know" gave a brief description of the people that influenced his thinking.
Havey told the students in the audience to study abroad because their education is not complete until they see another culture outside the United States.
He also urged the audience to get to know their professors.
"Students, don't sit in the back and text in class or be on Facebook, but get to know your teacher," Havey said.
John Henry Pommier, an assistant professor in recreation administration, gave a speech on "The Adventure Begins with Me" as he elaborated on the importance of being with ones self and taking time to do stuff people enjoy.
Pommier said do not get caught up in statuses, but do what is important.
The example he used for himself is finding time for his family, so when he looks back one day and he doesn't see a picture of what he could of missed out.
He also said to take leisure time doing something people really enjoy.
"I wake up around 5:45 a.m. to run because I love to run and see the sunrise," Pommier said. "Let us take advantage of every moment."
Madeline Smith can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
The University Board hosted "The Last Lecture" series, which in an adaptation of Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, who gave his finally lecture before he was forced to retire because of cancer.
Pausch's lecture was based off inspirational tools to help people to succeed by never giving up.
"You can't get there alone, and I believe in Karma," Pausch said in his last lecture.
Pausch died in July.
Shortly after the video presentation, the faculty proceeded and gave their idea of a last lecture and what it meant to them.
Sandy Beherns, a professor of education, gave her lecture "Time," which stood for "today includes more than me."
Beherns spoke about the importance of time and how everyone has 86,400 seconds in a day, 1,440 minutes in a day and time waits for no one.
She talked about the day she got a phone call that her son was in a bad accident where his priorities changed, but he continued to live life to the fullest.
Psychology professor Mike Havey's lecture "The More I Learn, the Less I Know" gave a brief description of the people that influenced his thinking.
Havey told the students in the audience to study abroad because their education is not complete until they see another culture outside the United States.
He also urged the audience to get to know their professors.
"Students, don't sit in the back and text in class or be on Facebook, but get to know your teacher," Havey said.
John Henry Pommier, an assistant professor in recreation administration, gave a speech on "The Adventure Begins with Me" as he elaborated on the importance of being with ones self and taking time to do stuff people enjoy.
Pommier said do not get caught up in statuses, but do what is important.
The example he used for himself is finding time for his family, so when he looks back one day and he doesn't see a picture of what he could of missed out.
He also said to take leisure time doing something people really enjoy.
"I wake up around 5:45 a.m. to run because I love to run and see the sunrise," Pommier said. "Let us take advantage of every moment."
Madeline Smith can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.
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.
Be the first to comment on this story