The Last Lecture

I recently read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. You may have heard of him from his Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon. I have not actually watched his last lecture yet but after reading the book, I am going to find the time to. A couple quotes have been running through my mind for a couple weeks now and I thought I would share the wealth.

No job is beneath you. It has been well documented that there is a growing sense of entitlement among young people today. I have certainly seen that in my classrooms. So many graduating seniors have this notion that they should be hired because of their creative brilliance. Too many are unhappy with the idea of starting at the bottom. My advice has always been you ought to be thrilled you got a job in the mail room. And when you get there here is what you do, be really great at sorting the mail. No job should be beneath us. And if you can't or won't sort mail, where is the proof you can do anything.

Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people.

Both quotes inspire me greatly. The first because I feel like I am in the legal mail room at the moment. I hope I am working my "mail room" well and I have been praying that I would start to lose some of my extreme sense of entitlement.

The second quote reminds me to keep seeking and striving for my dreams. My job search over the past six months have helped me understand why guys don't ask girls out... Rejection stinks. But my hope is if I keep looking, seeking and applying one day a potential employer will say yes.