I mentioned to my friend Henry today that I’d like to be a professor, and he said he could see me as one. I think it’s a lovely job, with the benefits of being part of a university community– like I have as a student now– plus the opportunity to have a positive impact on students.
I listened to an interview with YouMail CEO Alex Quilici. It’s really excellent, I recommend giving it a listen. He mentions that being a university professor today is good practice for being an entrepreneur. If you think about it, professors nowadays have to be very entrepreneurial if they’re going to be good. They apply for research grants and have to sell other people on their ideas, to get new areas to explore.
Mark Redekopp proves to me it can be done and doesn’t take forever. He’s quite young (I think) and yet he’s a highly respected professor already. Continue reading ‘I Want to be a Professor’
Yesterday, I talked with my friend Steven. We’ve been friends for many, many years. However, he has selected a much different path than mine, and we haven’t talked much recently. The main thing that struck me from our conversation is that he doesn’t know what to do with his life. What to spend his time on, what kind of job to get, what kind of life to live. He’s taking some time off from school, and it’s mainly for the purpose of finding a job. But he has only vague ideas of the job he’s seeking. My impression was that he needed motivation.
I recently picked up this small booklet from a local Target retailer. It was a great read, especially for a disorganized person like me. (Note, though, that organization is learned, not inherited.) A good portion of the book talks about setting very specific plans, missions, and goals for cleaning up and organizing. Why do they spend so much time on such trivial talk, when they could instead be getting down to the nitty gritty techniques that really make a difference? (These techniques are also included.) Continue reading ‘Life is nothing without goals: 2008′
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