The Longwood University Giest Chapter of Mortar Board hosted a Lasting Lecture event in Wygal auditorium Monday evening. The event was a first and based on the best-selling book "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. Four university professors spoke to the audience, a mix of students and colleagues, about what they want students to remember when beginning life after college.
Dr. Donald Herlan, lecturer of fitness concepts, talked about what to expect when applying and interviewing for a job. He said life isn't necessary always what you know, but more of who you know. Herlan discussed a recent article he read that stated most people go through at least nine jobs in their life, each lasting about an average of four years.
"One of the reason why jobs only last four years now is because they don't keep us that long." He said job loyalty is often only a one-way street, with little loyalty given to the employee, but much loyalty expected from the employee.
Herlan gave a few words of advice to students when creating a resume. He stressed the importance of spelling things right, especially the name of the hirer, something he has seen misspelled when selecting job applicants. Herlan also said when a person, or a committee, files though the stack of resumes, they are "looking for a reason to throw yours out."
After the application process, Herlan said if a person is chosen, they are sometimes lucky. "We never know for sure how good someone's going to be or if they'll work out. We just role the dice."
Assistant Professor of English, Jennifer Miskec, followed Herlan and spoke on the humorous topic of being smarter than a college graduate. She discussed the concept of temperaments and related it to one of her college undergraduate classes. She said she was called "stupid" by a professor for studying for another class during an optional movie-watching event.
Her temperament type, which she labeled as rational, motivated her to go to graduate school and pursue achievement rather than listen to the rude professor. Miskec explained how society "has strange and conflicting attitudes about intelligence."
Miskec surrounded part of her lecture around the show, "Are You Smarter than a 5th grader?" which poses elementary level questions to fifth graders and adults, seeing which one is able to answer correctly. "Fact knowing has a lot of cultural power," Miskec said. She also noted that facts were once only available to the elite class and now such facts are much easier to find. Her advice to the students was that it is okay to get a job outside of your degree field. "Do let college be the place where you fall in love with ideas," she said.
Dr. Lee Bidwell, professor of sociology, and an avid reader, explained the book the event was based on was one of her latest favorites. She said upon beginning her talk, "It's not easy to identify the most important pieces of advice to students." Still, Bidwell was able to bring home a message of both personal and passionate advice. Her top three pieces of advice formed the acronym "TEN," which she used to entitle her presentation, "3=10." Her points of advice deal with 1) try new things 2) expect change and 3) nurture friendship.
Bidwell said she has been passionate about sociology ever since taking it in a general education class in college. She combined her sociology love with that of political science, a major she wasn't quite as passionate advice. She did this in order to avoid a genetics class, which she would have had to take if she decided to double-major in psychology.
Her avoidance was due in part to a fear of the class, which she heard was hard and could otherwise be detrimental to her 4.0 GPA. She reminded those in the audience, "You're never to old to learn and certainly you should try new things."
In regard to expecting change, Bidwell said to always "expect the unexpected to happen" and that we must all learn to "adapt to change." Bidwell said while we may plan to "achieve what will make us happy and satisfied," life isn't always that simple. She ended by promoting the importance of friendship. "Friends always serve an important part of our lies." She said friends are there to encourage us to try new thins and help when the "unexpected changes" occur.
Dr. Pamela Tracy, associate professor of communication studies, spoke on grace and the reality that everyone will "inevitably face difficult dialogues." Tracy said some of these moments, whether they are mistakes or hardships, have the tendency to be "transforming" moments.
In part, Tracy said grace can equal forgiveness. She said however that at times, "we cannot forgive the actions of others." She talked about a sign she has in her office that asks if what you do is truthful, kind and necessary. Those components are needed to complete a well-rounded human being, she explained. Tracy said she enjoys smiling and head nodding because it makes her feel better.
"I'm just not sure if it makes me a better human being." As a professor of communication studies, Tracy said she "had to" talk about the media in her presentation. She said if people only pay attention to reality television and news, they will live only in a world full of "violent aura."
Mortar Board President Jennifer Maynard thanked those for their time in preparing the lectures. She said the idea of the event came from Pausch's book and a conference she attended. "I though it'd be a cool idea to bring this to Longwood." She said, "Hopefully this will keep going year to year."
Senior Lauren Irby said she came out to the event because she was a fan of the book. "Some of my favorite professors were speaking tonight," said Irby. "I think this was an enriching event.
