Evan Boller’s J237 Blog

Today, Steve Jobs gave a commencement speech to the Stanford University Graduates. The commencement speech was about taking risks and following your heart to accomplish your goals. Jobs wanted to inspire the next generation, and he used personal stories and examples from his life to do so.

            Jobs emphasized the importance of doing what you love, and to keep looking for that dream job without settling for something that doesn’t truly interest you.

            He connected this idea to when he was fired from Apple Computers in 1985 after a dispute with John Scully (CO-CEO) and the then board of directors. Getting fired allowed Jobs to creatively reset and led to what was one of Jobs’ most successful periods.

            “Getting fired to Apple was one of the best things that could’ve happened to me,” Jobs said.

            Jobs went on to create Pixar Animation Studios, which is one of the most successful animation studios in the world, as well as the “NeXT” Computer during his time away from Apple, the latter which eventually led Jobs to return to Apple Computers.

            Jobs also met, and eventually married his wife, Laurene Jobs during this time.

            Jobs also stressed the importance of trusting yourself to make the right decisions and trusting that things would work out. Everything in life happens for a reason. You can look back later to evaluate your choices, but you won’t truly know what the right choice is until later in life. Jobs called this idea “connecting the dots.”

            “You can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them backwards. You must trust that the dots will somehow connect…” Jobs said.

            Jobs continued that sentiment by encouraging the graduates to follow their heart, even when things get challenging, because that will make all the difference.

            Jobs dropped out of Reed College after he realized he didn’t enjoy what he was doing, and frankly it was unaffordable and not beneficial for him. He then “dropped back in” by dropping into classes that interested him, like calligraphy.

            Jobs learning about calligraphy led to the first Macintosh computer having unique fonts and formatting, and personal computers may have never had them. Jobs listened to his instinct and was willing to take a big risk in dropping out of college to pursue his interests, which is a trait that has paid dividends to Jobs to this point.

              Jobs also emphasized the concept of living every day like it’s your last. Make sure that you do the things that you want to do with the time that you have.

            Jobs has looked himself in the mirror every morning for the past 33 years, and asked himself if what he was about to do that day is what he truly wanted to do. If the answer was “no” too often, he would make changes.

            “Remembering I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life,” Jobs said.

            Jobs continued to stress that the graduates should follow their hearts, as time is limited, and that they shouldn’t live someone else’s life.

            Jobs left the graduates with a parting quote that he has tried to live up to his entire life. This quote is from “The Whole Earth Catalog”, and it means to strive for more and to not be afraid to take risks to achieve your goals. Simply put, “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”

On August 6^th, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan, killing over 80,000 people. A few days later, they dropped another bomb, killing another 40,000 people.

Inside the UW-Whitewater University Center in front of a crowd of 50 or so people on Tuesday night, Dr. Yamashita gave a lecture about the end of World War Two and that the bombing of Japan could’ve possibly been avoided.

Dr. Yamashita emphasized the idea that the Japanese knew they were beat, and some were already open to the idea of surrender.

“Many Japanese officials wanted to end the war,” Yamashita said.

One top Japanese official, Admiral Takagi, did not even want to attack Pearl Harbor, feeling that Japan was overextending themselves. Takagi was eventually removed from his position due to his beliefs.

            The Allies had also given Japan notice that they would soon turn their attention to them through the Potsdam Declaration. They also gave Japan a chance to surrender.

            Japan was also struggling on the home front. Citizens were being trained for war, even the children, who practiced battle moves during school. Many citizens did not believe that Japan would emerge victorious, and that they were being sent to die.

            Dr. Yamashita’s lecture was a learning moment for some UW-Whitewater students, such as Charlie Nowak.

            “This lecture was engaging and interesting, and I was able to see the Japaneese perspective of the end of the war and what they had to go through,” Nowak said.

            Some audience members took time to reflect on their experiences during World War Two.

            “When the war ended, I remember that there was dancing in the streets. I have not seen that since,” one audience member said.

            Dr. Yamashita concluded the lecture with the idea that Japan was already weak and battered with so many of their own ready to end the war, that they would have eventually surrendered. The atomic bombs merely accelerated that process and did not need to be used.

Seth Kalscheur may seem to be your average college student, however there’s more to him that meets the eye. He goes home every weekend to work on his family’s dairy farm in western Wisconsin and must figure out how to balance schoolwork with helping run the farm.

            Seth has been working on the farm since 6^th grade, and his main task is milking the cows. He also assists with selling the cattle, which usually occurs every 3-6 weeks.

            “What I really like about having to milk the cows is that there’s always fresh milk and I can save money by not having to go to the store to buy milk,” Kalscheur said.

            While Seth has tasks on the farm that he needs to do, he still finds a bit of time to have some fun. His favorite thing to do is throw tires off the trench.

            Working on the farm isn’t all fun and games though. There’s always hard work to be done, and you’ll often get very dirty.

            “I think the most challenging task on the farm is trying to cover up the trench, especially if there’s a storm,” Kalscheur said.

Working on a farm is hard enough as it is, but trying to balance farmwork with schoolwork can be very challenging. Seth likes to focus on the most important task at hand and is very methodical on how he accomplishes tasks.

            Seth makes sure he can keep up with his schoolwork by getting his homework done as soon as possible, and often does homework in the mornings.

            While Seth enjoys working on the farm, he doesn’t intend on going into the farming business, and wants to carve out his own path. He’s currently a freshman at UW-Whitewater and is studying business.

            “I really enjoy going to school at UW-Whitewater because of the great atmosphere and how the school gives you opportunities to be creative,” Kalscheur said.

            Seth also makes sure that he has some time to relax and focus on having fun. He plays intermural basketball as well as hanging out with his friends.         

Going forward, Seth looks forward to maintaining the balance of working on the farm as well as getting his degree and going into the business world.

Although most posts on this blog will be showcasing my schoolwork, I thought it’d be a good idea to share some of my interests. I am a sports fan and follow football, baseball, and basketball. My favorite teams are the Detroit Lions, Milwaukee Brewers, and Milwaukee Bucks. My favorite site to get sports news is ESPN.