Do, or Do Not. There is no Try.

You always know a geek when you meet one. And to meet a geek who is cool, forward looking and interesting, that’s good news because he or she will likely inspire another generation of geeks. Try meeting a whole room full of them, and of course, led by the head geek, Prof Ben. Call me nostalgic for missing the creative, supportive environment, but the 2 hours of CS3216 felt like Silicon Valley all over again… Well almost. 2 big reasons why.

1. Star Wars, Highlander

Since I first watched Episode V, “There is no Try” has been a key motto. (Watch it here if you don’t know what I’m talking about.)When Prof Tom Kosnik first mentioned about him aspiring to be our Yoda during E145, the Stanford High Tech Entrepreneurship module that we took for NOC, it resounded immediately. It was a pleasant surprise to have this analogy brought up again. And not only that, through Highlander and the other quotes and movie/show analogies mentioned in the class, this was geek talk at its best, but it somehow made my headache (from having had 6+ hours of class already before the lesson) go away, and “headfake” my mind into thinking that I’m hanging out with friends.

2. Making a Difference, and Having fun doing it

I have been, since starting Cheers Connect International, a leadership training company, been preaching about being a person who adds value to the lives of the people around us. This was why I loved Silicon Valley so much, seeing a virtuous cycle of people helping one another achieve their goals every single day. While I have been involved with, and have seen movements by organizations (E27, TDM, ASES, etc.) that have tried to do this, I have always thought that embedding these activities within core curriculum, would have a must more significant effect.

Enter CS3216, and the core objective was presented as “Making a Difference”. As I had hoped after being told to watch Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture, this course was, in part or in full, motivated somewhat by the VR class that Randy had establish. This was what I have been waiting for to happen at NUS, and I’m glad to be part of it.

All in all…

Well this is the beginning, and as proven by the contact exchange exercise, where we had to find people with various skill sets in the class, there are brilliant people in the class, and I will learn from and contribute to the entire learning process in more ways than one. There is no Try.

Some photos taken with my iPhone during class. Will do better next time with a proper camera.

You always know a geek when you meet one.