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The FIRST Lecture A book that came out last April that I recommend to everyone especially students, parents, grandparents, doctors, lawyers, and Indian chiefs and anyone else who enjoys thought stimulating reading. The book "The Last Lecture" written by Dr. Randy Pausch who was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and passed away last month after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. His book and You Tube video have been the buzz on television morning shows and college campus circles for many weeks. It is thought provoking and is something that I think will stick around for generations.
Last Monday I walked into the front of a college class room to teach a
course in Contemporary Issues in Media and delivered my first lecture. It
is something that I hope my students will think about at least until the end
of the fall semester.
I
am not the smartest person on this campus. I am not the smartest fellow in
the Department of Communications, I am not the smartest guy in this room. I
do have something that no one teaching the University System of Georgia can
give you. 36 years in hands on experience in media. If you listen and
participate you can learn. If you don't come to class or show up late, you
will never make it in any profession especially the media because you have
to show up and be there on time. Ask Brian Williams, Katie Couric, Charlie
Gibson or any of the Today Show, the CBS Early Show or Good Morning America
hosts if it is ok to be 10 minutes late. Being 15 minutes early is on time
and on time is late. In 36 years of radio broadcasting with the majority
doing the morning show, I perhaps was late 5 times. I have worked with
people that were late 5 times a month. Those people didn't stay in the
business too long. That is the way the electronic media works. I am not as
versed in the IPod or blogging as most of you are, but you don't know as
much about how the radio and television business works as I do. My knowledge
of the industry didn't come from a text book. I am not here to teach you,
but help you to understand and to learn from experience.
I
think it is important for you to know that I grew up in Tallapoosa, Georgia,
exit 5 off of Interstate 20 going west toward Alabama. It is also vital that
you learn that because I guarantee you that it will be in a test sometime
this term. I also want you to stop making fun of the state of Alabama. I
lived in Wadley, Jacksonville, and Montgomery and the folks in Alabama are
friendly and know about hospitality. I never met a stranger in Alabama from
Mobile to Muscle Shoals to Muscadine. I also think that if you20grew up in a
city with a large population it doesn't necessarily mean you have had a
better standard of life. The ability to get a pizza delivered at 1 a.m or
pay five bucks for a cup of Starbucks at the strip mall on the corner isn't
a cultural advantage. I have never heard of an incident of road rage in
Haralson County. I probably will see a couple of people shouting and giving
digital hand signals before this week ends on the 8 mile drive back to the
house. Your high school class was most likely bigger than mine. The
Tallapoosa High School class of 1969 had a few over 40 graduates. They are
the best friends I ever had. The friends that love you when you are
struggling are the friends you have for life. I have high school friends
that are pharmacists, fire chiefs, sales people, postal workers, and
teachers. I still love them and admire what they do to make this world a
better place. In my first lecture here know that this is the first job I
have had in 36 years. The last work I did was at the American Thread Company
when I cut the grass and hauled the garbage to the land fill. I know what it
is like to get my hands dirty. I learned a lot from others I worked with in
a cotton mill that got their hands dirty.
It
is also important for you to know that getting an education is important but
it doesn't guarantee you financial success or fame or an easy life. There
are many educated people20in the world that are derelicts. I have known a
lot of people with less education than most of you that are millionaires and
captains of industry. What they lacked in education they made up for in
talent, luck, and hard work. An education is important in that it can stack
the deck more favorably in your behalf. I strongly believe the axiom that
knowledge is power. Another axiom I believe strongly is to never forget the
people who helped you along the way and never forget where you came from. Be
proud of where you came from. Remember to give back. If nothing else in this
first lecture is remembered, please hear and remember this. Don't just do
the work. Show up, don't be late and do more than what is expected. Not just
in this course but in life. Class dismissed.
Rhubarb Jones is a distinguished lecturer in the Department of
Communications and serves as a Director of University Development at
Kennesaw State University. Comments can be sent to P.O. Box 1001, Tallapoosa,
Georgia, 30176 or via email at
Rhubarbjones@aol.com
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