A Lesson is Always Learned...

Some of you may wonder why I would published a draft.
In life you may not get the result you want. The same thing can happen in writing. For me, I have the hardest time keeping one stream of thought. People who know me can definitely say I am all over the place, literally.

My mind is always going 100 mph. Even while typing this, I get intermittent thoughts of "oh that's a good thing to say," to "crap...what was that thought I had..." It is truly a constant struggle that is a gift and a curse at the same time. To be honest, when I speak...be ready just to ask me to repeat a few things here and there. This is especially a challenge for me, since I want to become a civil engineer specializing in the transportation to correct the Metro Atlanta traffic. As an engineer, especially for transportation, the cost of the projects are a lot. I have learned to compensate by writing with the utmost professionalism, but another good point to make is to be mindful of your audience.

A resident asked me once, "Why don't you just say it?" He explained to me that there are times to be very formal and times of being very informal. As a Resident Assistant, you have to learn to be assertive, but friendly at the same time.

One of my colleagues describe this the best:

You want to get their attention, firmly tell them your case, and then gracefully place them back down. Finally, reassure them so that they know you're there and you still care for them.

But in Engineering, especially in transportation, it is your job to explain you design considerations. Explain why it works best, and in regards to ethics, why your design is the safest for the public. Whenever an Professional Engineer stamps any plan, it is the trust of his stamp that makes the plans go through. It is his responsibility for the life of the project. No one else is responsible if somethings happens.

That is a lot of risk and responsibility that lies in every Professional Engineer.

To throw you back to the beginning of this blog, the reason why I just published the draft and wrote another is because of what Conan O'Brien said at Dartmouth College for the Class of 2011 Commencement:

(Quote below starts at 20:00 after the start of this clip)

"Way back in the 1940’s there was a very funny man named Jack Benny. He was a giant star and easily one of the greatest comedians of his generation. And a much younger man named Johnny Carson wanted very much to be Jack Benny. In some ways he was, but in many ways he wasn’t. He emulated Jack Benny, but his own quirks and mannerisms, along with a changing medium, pulled him in a different direction. And yet his failure to completely become his hero made him the funniest person of his generation. David Letterman wanted to be Johnny Carson, and was not, and as a result my generation of comedians wanted to be David Letterman. And none of us are --- my peers and I have all missed that mark in a thousand different ways. But the point is this: It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It’s not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can be a catalyst for profound re-invention.

So, at the age of 47, after 25 years of obsessively pursuing my dream, that dream changed. For decades, in show business, the ultimate goal of every comedian was to host The Tonight Show. It was the Holy Grail, and like many people I thought that achieving that goal would define me as successful. But that is not true. No specific job or career goal defines me and it should not define you. In 2000, I told graduates to not be afraid to fail, and I still believe that. But today I tell you that whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality.

Many of you here today are getting your diploma at this Ivy League school because you have committed yourself to a dream and worked hard to achieve it. And there is no greater cliché in a commencement address than “follow your dream.” Well I am here to tell you that whatever you think your dream is now, it will probably change. And that’s okay. Four years ago, many of you had a specific vision of what your college experience was going to be and who you were going to become. And I bet, today, most of you would admit that your time here was very different from what you imagined.

Your roommates changed, your major changed, for some of you your sexual orientation changed. I bet some of you have changed your sexual orientation since I began this speech. I know I have. But through the good and especially the bad, the person you are now is someone you could never have conjured in the fall of 2007.

I have told you many things today, most of it foolish but some of it true. I’d like to end my address by breaking a taboo and quoting myself from 17 months ago. At the end of my final program with NBC, just before signing off, I said “Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen...."

Congratulations Class of 2012!