I have decided to use the Numbers essay on my Yale Supplement and the following essay on the common app. Do review it. :)
Randy Pausch died of cancer in 2008. In 2007, he delivered his last lecture, in which he brought teddy bears to the podium, pretended to be the Mad Hatter, and shared his boyhood dream of being Captain Kirk.
I gave the first interview of my life in the 12th grade, for the post of President - Editorial Board, at school. As I entered the interview room, seven of the school's sternest faces stared at me in unison, ready to tear my soul apart like shredded paper. Now, the good part: as I was beckoned to my chair, my mind went blank and I had precious few seconds to compose myself before my interviewers began bombarding me with questions. Not knowing what to do, I closed my eyes and there sat Randy Pausch, grinning at me from his heavenly pedestal. It appeared as if he was saying something. Sadly, my mind was on mute. Then, through the confusion, I remembered Randy's words from his last lecture, "Brick walls are there for a reason, they let us prove how badly we want things." People often realize/point out turning points in their lives, much after they have occurred, but precious few realize them while they are happening. When I opened my eyes, Randy Pausch was replaced by a bemused interviewer, but I knew I had changed. I had not turned any wiser, but I had discovered the single most important lesson of my life: Never give up. The interview had shifted in meaning; it was now the brick wall that I had to hammer down. With the force strong in me, I proceeded to demolish the questions put forth to me, with Randy's quick wit and spontaneity in my breast pocket.
I have learnt the most important lessons of life from experience rather than pedagogy. As Randy advocated in his speech, "Most of what we learn, we learn indirectly." I have learnt the fundamentals of cooperation and team spirit in my time at the Editorial Board. I believe there is no better way to bond than to run around the school with your teammates, getting work done. This experience has also taught me another of Randy's valuable lessons, "Be good at something: it makes you valuable to the team." Without Randy's words of wisdom, I would not have discovered my worth to the Editorial Board as a writer and would have laid my talent to waste.
Randy Pausch's speech has led me to an important conclusion: To make the world fall in place, you must shift the blocks yourself. The man changed my life with 90 minutes of his time. To describe singularly what I have learnt from Randy, I would use the Latin phrase "Credo quia absurdum - I believe because it is absurd".
