First Lecture of 2010

Above: The best of all pictures from Randy Pausch's Update Page featuring his daughter, Chloe.

DID YOU CATCH THE
HEAD FAKE?

I'm really looking forward to the year 2010. As I enter the new decade, it was welcomed by my mom and dad, my best friend Neal and his wife (who were in town visiting), and of course, James Taylor. Okay, I'll explain the latter.

It usually spend New Year's with my family (which has come to mean a lot to me), as I was never into all that celebrating/partying/yackety-smackety. I honestly think that the moment that the clock strikes 12 simply means that the calendar turns to another day. What's more important to me is seeing how the new year can mean something that +1 on the calendar but more what can I do with that year. So, I avoided anything on TV regarding countdowns (even the NYC ball drop) until the last 2 minutes of the Chicago countdown. After flipping through channels, I thought that James Taylor singing his hit songs on acoustic guitar on PBS would be perfect for a toned down night.

Taylor's One Man Band DVD is highly recommended, btw.

However, the next day on YouTube, I found a video that unexpectedly set my new year on the right note. It was a lecture given by Randy Pausch, formerly a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

The video I found was described as his "Last Lecture," which was an academic tradition at Carnegie Mellon University that was to be given as if it was the person's final one... ever. For Pausch, it truly was. Although Pausch was championing his pancreatic cancer (he was outliving his original expectation to live 3-6 months), Pausch knew that at a point he was going to lose the battle (it had already spread to other organs). Yet, in front of a standing room crowd, Pausch proved that he was still much stronger than much of crowd by demonstrating his pushup skills (alternating between 1- and 2-handed versions). His "accidental celebrity" status (as he termed it) all started with a lecture that has attracted 10 million plus views on YouTube. In it, Pausch spoke about his dreams.

... and not just achieving them. How we make them come true. Who helped us along the way. How the dream came true even though it wasn't they way one imagined. The effort needed to achieve them. How grateful we need to be for what we can get...

In the talk he gives, called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," he tells the audience about how he wanted to play in the NFL, meet Captain Kirk, and even become a Disney imagineer (something I also have wondered about doing), and how the dreams had came true, but not in the way he had originally expected. Yet to Pausch, the outcomes were quite satisfying. I never expected to stay on board for his 1.25 hour long lecture, but his humor and personality caught my attention and grabbed my curiousity.

Just by watching the video, I knew that Pausch was a man that really wanted to live life to the fullest, and for knowing that he wouldn't be in the world much longer, I salute the man for having the strength to make the best of what remaining life he had. He used his efforts to improve awarness of Pancreatic Cancer and even coming back to Carnegie Mellon again to share more of his lessons with the graduating class of 2008. Pausch passed away that year, 22 months after his original diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, leaving behind his wife and family. Although his life had ended, he went on to motivate his family and millions of others. He was featured on news outlets such as Good Morning America, Time magazine, and CBS Sunday Morning. He also wrote a book called The Last Lecture which eventually went to become a New York Times Bestseller.

After watching and learning about the Carnegie Mellon professor, I ended up making one of my objectives this year to work even harder towards my dreams... the dream of not just becoming a doctor, but to hopefully to turn out to be a great one.

Randy, thanks for making me learn a lot from my first lecture of 2010. Here's to you.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK: Watch the lecture. It might be just what you need to start the New Year. When you get a chance to watch his video, watch out for the "head fakes" (aka deeper messages) in his lecture and see if you can figure out what they are before he tells you what they are at the end of the video (I'll give you a hint, there's two). I know you'll get a few of those "Aha" moments when you learn what they are. Just trust me.

The Subway Line

"WE'RE OUT OF SPICY ITALIAN... AND A BUNCH OF OTHER STUFF TOO."

My friend Rubie, who's up in New York, asked me a great question,

"What exactly do you eat down [in Dominica]?"

As a medical student in Dominica, the options are limited. Let's start with things most Americans should know. We have 1 (soon to be 2) KFC and 2 Subways. Now, at ross we have the Dominican analog to a food court typically found in college... it's called The Shacks, and they look exactly like the name calls them out to be. In terms of cultural food, we have 3 Chinese places, appropriately called (Bob's, Brother's and Hong Kong), Italian (aka Perky's Pizza), and Canadian (okay, they serve American food...). You go a bit further from campus, and you literally can fine dine! For instance for $95 EC, approximately $35 US, we can get all you can eat lobster at a restaurant called "Sunset." Not to mention, classic Caribbean food is nearby, at local joints such as Big Papa's, Blue Bay, and my favorite, the Purple Turtle.

With my current health crunch, Subway is one of my favorite places to hit. It's literally just like the ones back home, with the selection of sandwiches, pizza and soup (pizza and soup finally made their debut this semester).

HOWEVER... there's a caveat to this: there are times I'll head into Subway, then I'll look down and... as a sense of shock flows through my body, half the meats are missing (sometimes the bread, and yes even sometimes the chips when I want a full meal). The Subways in Dominica are supplied by shipments from the Americas... therefore, when a huge hurricane stands in the way of one of the routes, it might be a while before my clamoring for my Spicy Italian on Honey Oat bread is satisfied.

I could have complained, but that really didn't affect the way I looked upon my experience at Subway: I've learned to find enough different combinations of "favorite" sandwiches to take care of my palate. The best part of every visit is enjoying the rapport I have with the Dominicans who work behind the counter at the Portsmouth, Dominica Subway. A typical walk up to the "order counter" goes like this:

"How you doin' man?" - NOTE: A strong Dominican-Caribbean accent is present. -

"Oh, I'm alright, a busy day at the hospital. How about you, sir?" - NOTE: A strong Chicago accent is present. -

"I'm good. I'm good man. Good to hear that you're good." - Said as the guy/girl is nodding his/her head behind the counter, while smiling or laughing. -

And... just to see that the people behind the desk want to know how I'm doing always makes a stop at the Subway a way to top off my day. By the way they interact behind the table, I can tell they're enjoying life - even if demanding med students are out there to ruin it. I just instead separate myself from the idea of stressful med school, and for those 15 minutes in line, immerse myself in the way they're enjoying themselves. When I get my sandwich, I snap right back into reality, and its right into the books. However, I feel much more refreshed, even though I ended up with a Tuna because they were out of Spicy Italian once again. :P

The point is: you can't always get what you want, but you can always enjoy life in the way it presents itself.

Pictures: Subway Dominica, Roseau