Eppudi!!
Know the Unknow, Share your knowledge, experience and Explore on what you are passionate about.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Mail from My Friend!!
I'm in Chennai, came for my brothers Counselling. Just to check my mail, I checked into a netcafe. I got a Mail from one of my friend Ganesh(only student of my age who loves environment to great extent). He has/is/will be inspiration for those who loves nature. Many a time we have discussed on matter of how to make change in people around us. Many a time it didn't work, but still he keeps pushing us all for a good cause. I am publishing this mail( Personal mail) just to know how we are and what few changes you can make.!!!
Mail From Ganesh Kathick:
Everyone on this planet has some uniqueness of his own, but there are some things common that one should be responsible. I (Ganesh) request as a part of human commitment and as a superior race of the only living planet known to as fill now, “Be Socially Responsible”.
Remember few things, How you differ from them.
Remember few things, How you differ from them.
- There are still 6.2 billion people who don’t have the fundamental, which everyone have.
- There are still millions of people who live without a single meal a day.
- There are still a lot more who doesn’t have the physical ability to compete with the fast paced world.
- You are among those 1.3 billion people where you have the equal fight and competition from everyone to find a place in the status of the today’s world.
Lot more to tell and express as facts are always comes in mind goes on...
By the next few years you would be filling your pocket with the paper which is valued as bigger than anything.
In an era where the premium is money, definition of achievement becomes narrow and last for few long...
When you are settled and well placed in a quality environment, I put forth a few request for the Mother Earth and for all living species on the planet.
By the next few years you would be filling your pocket with the paper which is valued as bigger than anything.
In an era where the premium is money, definition of achievement becomes narrow and last for few long...
When you are settled and well placed in a quality environment, I put forth a few request for the Mother Earth and for all living species on the planet.
- A change in you should get contribution in everything.
- Have a disciplined way of life, where you are the best in terms of everything.
- Know what is happening at least around your committed environment, so that you can adopt and make new thing to happen.
- Love your mother and father. They are the ones who gave life to you and to your family.
- Make your children grow with a vision with quality in everything and future long goal.
- There is a saying “UNN VEEDU EPPADIYO, UNN NADUM APPADIYAE”, so fell proud for your country.
- Honour those lost lives, those who stand in blood-freezing cold borders, those who fight for noble cause for the nation and respect them.
- Serve your society once in a year of your own interest.
- Make your children “RESPECT THE EARTH”.
- Help those who really deserve it.
- Feel the pride that you are among the billions who have greatest culture, tradition, and everything. Preserve them from getting extinct.
- Feel courageous to speak in your ‘mother language’.
- Update the health facts and take care of your health, as in future there are few who depend on you for everything.
- Earn money to make you qualified of doing something.
- If you love India, though not interested in politics, it is not a matter of concern but you have the responsibility to elect good leaders, so please VOTE. Your VOTE COUNTS.
- Protect your culture from foreign invasion.
- Think globally to strive a better solution in every work you do.
- Adopt a child, which means at least you can sponsor for a child’s education which will count for the value of life in today’s world.
- Plant trees which is the best way that you can do to keep the Earth alive.
Lot more to say but since you are better than me in everything, I believe you‘ll make some of this into account.
There is African proverb, which goes as “If you believe in prayer, pray that people will find the strength to change”. Change is the biggest thing that a person can do towards full commitment. You can grow to that extent. Remember ‘Explore the world of everything, where you should be the emperor of everything’. We can meet accidentally in the future, but the time line is very short. Have the heart to bear the pain of future events, as nothing is permanent.
END OF THE MAIL
After reading this mail, something i felt, which i cant express in word and the lessons i have learnt from my experience and from Nair Sir's lecture run through my mind. I respect this man(Ganesh) for his love towards nature. Ya, i think there are variety of things like Nature, Country, Human as he said. Yes, because everything around us have a value. Country we live in,the language we speak, people around us(especially 2 - father and mother) and mainly the nature and mother earth. I (Ramaguru) am not a great person to say about environment conservation.But i do love the earth i live in and care for it, for which i need not be an environmentalist, its enough that i realise the importance of it.
As a young people we must not only study some Algorithms, thermodynamics , prepare for GRE,GATE and joining infe,CTS and have a luxuries life. The people around us also have same flesh,same blood like us, they too must enjoy this life, by which i doesn't mean we must give the money, wealth which we earned. Rather help them to come up, cope up with their life. I don't mean to say give whatever you earn to poor. Dont let someone to die because of hunger (ppl u know). I have many more things to say, which a single post will not be enough, same way for ganesh also the single mail will not be enough. Hope I too make a LITTLE difference in life of few people i know.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Short Film - " 536"
REVIEW:
“536″ is an exceptional short film with a good message, a much needed one for the younger generation – “Value of (hard earned) Money”. Well with this message you would expect the short film to be dull & more of an art film but thats where 536 stands out. Concept of driving a message with a humorous touch + a crisp story line forms the strong base for which Ganesh desires kudos.
Title is well chosen which makes it the more interesting when you realize the reason for naming this movie “536″ – Good job done in capturing the attention.
Venkat seems to fit into the character very well & makes you laugh all the time with his funny punch dialogs, style & esp the body language. The kid also has done a great job.
KB Prabhu (Cinematographer) has done a good job & looks professional than an amateur.
Abhinav (Editor) makes the movie more interesting. Mixing & effects done in the movie are exceptional for a short film which definitely shows the level of effort the team has put into the making of this movie & making it a success.
Only exception being 536 is a bit long (35min) for a short film but the fun & the story line keeps you glued to watching the complete movie.
536 is definitely a Great entertainer, Good Message & Worth Watching. Fresh talent, different approach with a humorous touch & worth the time.
Happy watching
CREW:
Written and Directed by: Ganesh Kumar
Cinematography: KB Prabu (KCT)
Editing: Abhinav S Nayak
Assistant Director: Senthil Nathan
CAST:
Venkat Sundar, Mohan, Guru, Isaac, Sherry, Senthil, Santhosh etc
Courtesy: Review by Short Films Hub
My Path to Placement - Part 1
Placements being the dream/aim/passion for many (leaving out those higher studies guys). Every parent regardless of the academic performance of their children, expects them to get placed in an MNC.
As a final year student, I have a determination for getting placed in a good company, though i have plans for my highers too. I am unaware about other college placements ,but as said and heard by many our college has a top placement statistics. May be its because of all those training /Mock test we attend.
For our batch, the hunt for placements begun with a mock test.
July 12th:
This was not the actual first Mock test ,even last semester we had three tests. But it was not taken seriously by most of us. With a hope and high spirits I went into Visveswaraiya hall. I got a seat and settled down to take my test. Surrounding me my fellow guys , Sudhan (right), Manikanda prabhu (left) , Dinesh , Vishwa ,Sridhar (in front row). Its Indian tradition of commencing something 5 - 10 minutes late then the planned time. We are nowhere exception (Not the JAVA EXCEPTION.Proving Myself as a IT guy, rather IT Professional.)
5.10 pm - With pin-drop silence, (reminded the used during school age) , a paper was given. Even in my public exam/Semester exam i have not witnessed a silence like this (for few seconds alone). EEE was the other department in the hall with us. I got the paper, I broken out with a laugh when i knew it was white blank sheet. (Oru white paperu ka da ivvalvu build up ahhh?). Then got the question paper and started writing.
5.15 pm was the time I started exactly. The mistake i made in previous Mocks were ' attend only the question i knew and left others unanswered'.
The paper was relatively hard (atleast) for me. 1st ques - tried and left, 2nd one -same, 3rd ques - same, my mind told me start from the last ques ( எவ்வளவோ பண்ணறோம் இத பண்ணமாட்டோமா ?). To last,then to the middle page. I solved one question, then slowly i started getting the answers and I was sure enough problems i solved was exactly correct. By the time, I complete 10 questions it was 6.10 pm. Keeping in my mind the past experience, I randomly shaded 10-12 more ques (since we were given something so-called OMR).
6.25pm - Reached the main gate. Its a unwritten fact that when i wait for 111 it either comes with a flying crowd or atleast half an hour delay. 6.45 comes the 111. Got in.I was speaking with one of seniors in Infe asking, how the working culture is and many more when conductor was asking me to take a ticket.
Main thing, my senior said was "have a mentality to learn something new is a must in IT".
7.15 pm- The bus was intervened by passenger train from Mettupalayam. "I thought why the hell should the train come now?". Because i was in a hurry to reach home for no important reason. Suddenly Nair's Voice ( I need a separate post, may be a separate book to narrate about the man. He(Somasekaran Nair) is a pedagogue. Get back with a post on him soon) echoed in my ears, "why the hell, the train should not come now?. The train was on clock, its you either came late or earlier".
Only then i realised the real meaning, "The point is we always blame others even for the mistake we make". What I understood exactly resembles the world?".
With all these thoughts running in my mind, " I have heard statements from sir that ' Why something can't happen to you?' but understood only by experience".
After reaching home, its obvious what we do. I got the result through mail. 13 marks, felt not bad compared to the top mark..
As a final year student, I have a determination for getting placed in a good company, though i have plans for my highers too. I am unaware about other college placements ,but as said and heard by many our college has a top placement statistics. May be its because of all those training /Mock test we attend.
For our batch, the hunt for placements begun with a mock test.
July 12th:
This was not the actual first Mock test ,even last semester we had three tests. But it was not taken seriously by most of us. With a hope and high spirits I went into Visveswaraiya hall. I got a seat and settled down to take my test. Surrounding me my fellow guys , Sudhan (right), Manikanda prabhu (left) , Dinesh , Vishwa ,Sridhar (in front row). Its Indian tradition of commencing something 5 - 10 minutes late then the planned time. We are nowhere exception (Not the JAVA EXCEPTION.Proving Myself as a IT guy, rather IT Professional.)
5.10 pm - With pin-drop silence, (reminded the used during school age) , a paper was given. Even in my public exam/Semester exam i have not witnessed a silence like this (for few seconds alone). EEE was the other department in the hall with us. I got the paper, I broken out with a laugh when i knew it was white blank sheet. (Oru white paperu ka da ivvalvu build up ahhh?). Then got the question paper and started writing.
5.15 pm was the time I started exactly. The mistake i made in previous Mocks were ' attend only the question i knew and left others unanswered'.
The paper was relatively hard (atleast) for me. 1st ques - tried and left, 2nd one -same, 3rd ques - same, my mind told me start from the last ques ( எவ்வளவோ பண்ணறோம் இத பண்ணமாட்டோமா ?). To last,then to the middle page. I solved one question, then slowly i started getting the answers and I was sure enough problems i solved was exactly correct. By the time, I complete 10 questions it was 6.10 pm. Keeping in my mind the past experience, I randomly shaded 10-12 more ques (since we were given something so-called OMR).
6.25pm - Reached the main gate. Its a unwritten fact that when i wait for 111 it either comes with a flying crowd or atleast half an hour delay. 6.45 comes the 111. Got in.I was speaking with one of seniors in Infe asking, how the working culture is and many more when conductor was asking me to take a ticket.
Main thing, my senior said was "have a mentality to learn something new is a must in IT".
7.15 pm- The bus was intervened by passenger train from Mettupalayam. "I thought why the hell should the train come now?". Because i was in a hurry to reach home for no important reason. Suddenly Nair's Voice ( I need a separate post, may be a separate book to narrate about the man. He(Somasekaran Nair) is a pedagogue. Get back with a post on him soon) echoed in my ears, "why the hell, the train should not come now?. The train was on clock, its you either came late or earlier".
Only then i realised the real meaning, "The point is we always blame others even for the mistake we make". What I understood exactly resembles the world?".
With all these thoughts running in my mind, " I have heard statements from sir that ' Why something can't happen to you?' but understood only by experience".
After reaching home, its obvious what we do. I got the result through mail. 13 marks, felt not bad compared to the top mark..
Friday, July 9, 2010
Students vs Teachers
Submitted by Prabhu, on Thursday.
1.When we are in the class we are students and when they are in the class they are teachers.
2.When we write over our writing it is overwriting and when they write over our writing it is corrections.
3.When we gather to discuss ,it is gossip and when they gather to discuss it is meeting.
4.When we are found in the library it is bunking and when they are found in the library it is reaserch work or references.
5.When we copy from others it is cheating and when they copy from others it is quoting.
6.When we think in class we are day dreamers and when they think in class they are philosophers.
7.If we do not do our work on time we are lazy and when they do not do their work on time they are busy.
8.When we are out in the corridor,we are loiterring and when they are out in the corridor they are inspecting.
9.When we joke in class we are called 'silly' and when they joke in class they have a sense of humour.
P.S: This is not to imitate or resemble anything related to my staffs.
First Person to send me Guest Article. Good try. Thank you for the interest.
1.When we are in the class we are students and when they are in the class they are teachers.
2.When we write over our writing it is overwriting and when they write over our writing it is corrections.
3.When we gather to discuss ,it is gossip and when they gather to discuss it is meeting.
4.When we are found in the library it is bunking and when they are found in the library it is reaserch work or references.
5.When we copy from others it is cheating and when they copy from others it is quoting.
6.When we think in class we are day dreamers and when they think in class they are philosophers.
7.If we do not do our work on time we are lazy and when they do not do their work on time they are busy.
8.When we are out in the corridor,we are loiterring and when they are out in the corridor they are inspecting.
9.When we joke in class we are called 'silly' and when they joke in class they have a sense of humour.
P.S: This is not to imitate or resemble anything related to my staffs.
First Person to send me Guest Article. Good try. Thank you for the interest.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Reason Why? I Love Maths - Part 1
I love Maths not as Subject for scoring marks, but for the way it has taken shape. Only lovers of Maths can appreciate things so-called Encryption. Similarly, some interesting facts about Maths.
I believe this is some super power. To show humans that everything is inter-related and nothing is stand-alone. Maths can be seen in nature, as usually i blabber the artists and mathematician of ancient times made it clear " MATHS IS EVERY WHERE".
Have any one heard of something called golden ratio.If not,Here it is
The definition is the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is same as the ratio of larger quantity to smaller quantity.
When we equate this separately, we will get phi^2 - phi -1 = 0.
Solving the quadratic equation, we get phi = 1.618......
The rectangle that have sides ratio as 1:1.618 is called Golden Rectangle.
The golden rectangle is shown below:
We can see the breadth is 1 units and length is 1 + sqrt(5) / 2 (which equals 1.618).
So breadth : length = 1 : 1.618.
Golden ratio in Nature:
Click the pic to see animated view...
This is also golden rectangle, but u try finding it?
Golden Spiral is a logarithmic spiral whose growth factor b is related to golden ratio.Specifically, a golden spiral gets wider( or further from its origin) by a factor of j for every quarter turn it makes.
A Nautilus shell reveals golden spiral
Coming back to my Da Vinci, as told he is also a mathematician. So his paintings do portrays this Golden rectangle.
The Vetruvian Man and Monalisa :
In architect too,
The fact that golden ratio exist in human hand,in nature, in animal. Golden ratio is only 0.000.. percent of maths concepts, think of entire maths relation with nature and humans. Unimaginable.
I believe this is some super power. To show humans that everything is inter-related and nothing is stand-alone. Maths can be seen in nature, as usually i blabber the artists and mathematician of ancient times made it clear " MATHS IS EVERY WHERE".
Have any one heard of something called golden ratio.If not,Here it is
The definition is the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is same as the ratio of larger quantity to smaller quantity.
The golden ratio is often denoted by the Greek letter phi (Φ or φ).
The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.6180339887. The value of phi used is 1.618.
Significance of 1.618:
Hope everyone knew Fibonacci series, our class guys wont forget( Every lab this will be the first program we do write).
Even then,
Fibonacci numbers are: 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,....
Just compute the ratio of larger number to smaller one,
1/0 = undermined.
1/1 = 1
2/1 = 2
3/2 = 1.5
5/3 = 1.6666
8/5 = 1.6
13/8 = 1.625
21/13 = 1.61538.
so it seems that the value gets stable approx 1.618...
Golden Rectangle:
The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.6180339887. The value of phi used is 1.618.
Significance of 1.618:
Hope everyone knew Fibonacci series, our class guys wont forget( Every lab this will be the first program we do write).
Even then,
Fibonacci numbers are: 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,....
Just compute the ratio of larger number to smaller one,
1/0 = undermined.
1/1 = 1
2/1 = 2
3/2 = 1.5
5/3 = 1.6666
8/5 = 1.6
13/8 = 1.625
21/13 = 1.61538.
so it seems that the value gets stable approx 1.618...
Golden Rectangle:
When we equate this separately, we will get phi^2 - phi -1 = 0.
Solving the quadratic equation, we get phi = 1.618......
The rectangle that have sides ratio as 1:1.618 is called Golden Rectangle.
The golden rectangle is shown below:
We can see the breadth is 1 units and length is 1 + sqrt(5) / 2 (which equals 1.618).
So breadth : length = 1 : 1.618.
Golden ratio in Nature:
Click the pic to see animated view...
This is also golden rectangle, but u try finding it?
Golden Spiral is a logarithmic spiral whose growth factor b is related to golden ratio.Specifically, a golden spiral gets wider( or further from its origin) by a factor of j for every quarter turn it makes.
Coming back to my Da Vinci, as told he is also a mathematician. So his paintings do portrays this Golden rectangle.
The Vetruvian Man and Monalisa :
In architect too,
The fact that golden ratio exist in human hand,in nature, in animal. Golden ratio is only 0.000.. percent of maths concepts, think of entire maths relation with nature and humans. Unimaginable.
Steve jobs Stanford Speech
Apple CEO, Steve jobs in his speech at Stanford Graduation Day on 2005 says the lessons to students in form of three real stories happened in his Life.
1st Story : College Dropout
2nd Story: Fired out from Apple
3rd Story: Death.
Last word: Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
Watch out his Speech:
A man who has gone through the real success through his innovation and hard work. Lets take the lesson from him. Do what you love, Like what you do, believe in what you have done. YOU WILL SUCCEED!
Best decisions I ever made
The first story is about connecting the dots. I ped out of Reed College after the first six months. Why? Well, it started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.
She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, but my biological mother found out later that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would go to college.
This was the start in my life. And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. So I decided to out. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms. I returned coke bottles for the five cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.
Let me give you one example: I decided to take a calligraphy class at Reed College and learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations. None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. If I had never ped out, I would have never ped in on that calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
Love and Loss
My second story is about love and loss. Woz (Steve Wozniak) and I started Apple in my parents' garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown into a two billion dollar company with over 4,000 employees. We'd just released our finest creation the Macintosh a year earlier, and then I got fired.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down. I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me: I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit and I decided to start over.
The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, and I retuned to Apple. I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple.
I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
If today were the last day of life
My third story is about death. When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: 'If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.' It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I've looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I will be dead soon is the most important tool I have ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors told me this was incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for 'prepare to die.' I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, and was told that it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and, thankfully, I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: No one wants to die. Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalogue created by a fellow named Stewart Brand and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: 'Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.' It was their farewell message.
The first story is about connecting the dots. I ped out of Reed College after the first six months. Why? Well, it started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.
She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, but my biological mother found out later that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would go to college.
This was the start in my life. And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. So I decided to out. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms. I returned coke bottles for the five cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.
Let me give you one example: I decided to take a calligraphy class at Reed College and learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations. None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. If I had never ped out, I would have never ped in on that calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
Love and Loss
My second story is about love and loss. Woz (Steve Wozniak) and I started Apple in my parents' garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown into a two billion dollar company with over 4,000 employees. We'd just released our finest creation the Macintosh a year earlier, and then I got fired.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down. I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me: I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit and I decided to start over.
The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, and I retuned to Apple. I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple.
I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
If today were the last day of life
My third story is about death. When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: 'If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.' It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I've looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I will be dead soon is the most important tool I have ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors told me this was incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for 'prepare to die.' I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, and was told that it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and, thankfully, I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: No one wants to die. Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalogue created by a fellow named Stewart Brand and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: 'Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.' It was their farewell message.
And I've always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.