I hope many people watched the “Prime Time” show about professor Randy Pausch’s last lecture. I watched it on video sometime after September 18, 2007. In the eyes of the media it wasn’t a big deal at that time. But it was a big deal with me. I told friends and family about it.
I found Randy’s beliefs about how to live life inspirational. Okay, it’s easy to feel that way when you hear a speaker say things that you already believe in. Yes, for the most part, he was talking to the choir. But it is always wonderful to have what we already believe in validated by a dynamic teacher and man.
There were things that I could not help but like about him–his energy, his work ethic, his passion for teaching, sense of humor, and cheerfulness, while walking in the valley of death. Moreover, his childhood dreams were always important to him–from winning large stuffed animals at the carnival to playing a professional sport.
My teenage dreams were to play professional baseball, marry a beautiful woman, have kids, live in a nice house, drive a decent car, and give back to society in a positive way beyond baseball. Later, the baseball dream gave way to becoming a teacher who tried to make within the four walls of a classroom, while wielding a solid piece of chalk, not a bat. I also wanted to write the Great American Novel, just like J.D. Salinger.
All of my dreams came true, except I became a children’s poet along the way, and my name isn’t a household name like Salinger. But I do get out and about and visit schools and libraries with my poetry.
One of the teachers, Mary Lou Beaudoin (at Seton Cahtolic School), said this month that, “Silly Sottile was wonderful with 1st graders. They loved his poems, his hat, and his April Fool’s joke.” Another teacher said “Silly Sottile had the class mesmerized.”
I also told the class that they had to become something in life that would make themselves and the world better. (That’s exactly what Randy Pausch did.) I said “Your dream my change along the way, but the important thing is to have the dream and follow it–just like my father did, whose dream was to send all of his kids to college. He did. And my dreams came true too.”
That’s when I realized that whenever I walk into a school and share poetry, it’s a “head-fake.” It’s really not about poetry. I am giving my last lecture about living a meaningful life to kids with vivid childhood dreams.
What’s your “Last Lecture” about?