The Last Lecture Chapter 5

"I'll take an earnest person over a hip person every time, because hip is short-term. Earnest is long-term."

This is very true. I love that Pausch uses Boy Scouts and Eagle Scouts as his reference of being earnest. Back in my hometown I know two guys who became Eagle Scouts. Right now one of them is currently in Iraq with the Marine Corps and another just graduated from Paris Island.



There were many great things in this chapter but that stuck out the most in my mind. Because in the end being Earnest is what it is all about and Pausch knew that early on.

Something else that got to me was when Randy vouced for his student Dennis, he essentially put his tenor on the line because he believed in Dennis and what he could do. The Dean was ready to expel but Randy went in and pleaded the case, not for himself but for his student.

Something that made me laugh the most in this chapter was the way Randy described his Academic Reviewer tactic of sending a box of thin mints with the papers. That way, when he was curious as to whether or not the people had read his paper, he jsut asked them if they had eaten that box of thin mints yet.

The thing I like most about this man is his whole outlook on life and jsut the way he handles things. Everyone would be lucky to know somebody liek Randy Pausch.