A year ago I moved into a full-time teaching position at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. I have really loved it and feel like I am making a difference. As long as I remain in good health, I look forward to teaching for years to come.
However, a good friend of mine is retiring from teaching after this year. I saw him the other day and he had just taught the first day of a course he will never teach again. We talked about how this was the last time he will have taught that opening session.
“How did that feel,” I asked. “It’s all kind of surreal,” he said. I can appreciate that. He has been teaching for a long time – and has been teaching this particular course for a very long time.
This all made me start to think . . .
Maybe I should teach every class NOW, like it is my last semester. Don’t hold anything back. The Olympics Finals, Game 7 of the World Series, the Super Bowl.
This all reminds me of several years ago when Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon, gave his Last Lecture. He had been diagnosed with cancer and had only a few months to live. His lecture is amazing. It has more than 20 million views on YouTube. I encourage you to check it out here.
The lesson here, I think, is that we can all probably do better at Carpe Diem – really seizing the day, every day. I already tell my students that I promise to bring my “A” game every day. But maybe it is time to step that up another notch.
I’m going to teach like it’s my last semester. My last lecture – every day.
