Pierre
Then I saw this email... from the most inspiring professor I've ever had at UW. I think I have talked about him before in xanga. He's smart (PhD, JD, not from a dual degree program like MD PhD, what more can I say?) and he's charming. He knew so well what questions to throw us to make us think. He's really a teacher, a mentor - he taught us not only things in academics, but also guidance to life...
I remember him showing us this video on the first day of class...
http://www.youtube.com/wat
This video took 5 minutes of our class time and I didn't understand how it's related to Psychology and Law, until he sent us a follow up email after that class. (He sent us follow up emails every week - to remind us the important issues that he wanted us to think about) He knew so well what college students are facing - choices. If we CARE about what we do, we're able to see through the illusions/choices better.
I forgot about Pierre until he sent us a thank you email after our final exam. It made me cry the moment I read the email because I screwed up that semester so badly. And it made me cry again when I read it tonight, almost 2 years after he sent us this email. It reminds me what I really should do while I apply for jobs aimlessly every day.
Let me quote 2 sentences of his email here -
"If I can hearken back to our little friend Pierre:
it turns out it is important to CARE. So go toward what it is you
like -- toward what it is you truly know you are "interesterated" in,
and see what happens when you travel down that path.''
"Interesterated" is the word he used in our class to mean "interested", because his son could never learn the word properly. He mentioned Pierre in the first and last email he sent to us - I am sure this is something that he really wanted us to know. I am sure I have written this in xanga before, maybe even more than once. But it's so easy for me to forget about this story, because I am too timid to go toward what I'm really "interesterated" in.
It's funny how a cautionary tale intended to let children of age 3-8 learn the moral of CARE can also applies to a young adult like myself. But I keep forgetting about the moral of the tale. In fact, I am afraid that all the worries, frustrations, illusions and uncertainties will make me forget this little story of Pierre again.
I hope that 2 years later when I read the same email again, I won't be writing a note in facebook talking about the exact same thing like what I typed here today....
Here goes the lyrics of Pierre - (btw, we had the Carole King version in class... I liked that better!)
There once was a boy named Pierre,
Who only would say,
I don’t care.
Hear his story, my friend, for you’ll find at the end, that a suitable moral lies there
One day, his mother said, as Pierre climbed out of bed,
"Good morning, darling boy, you are my only joy."
Pierre said,
I don’t care.
What would you like to eat?
I don’t care.
Some lovely cream of wheat?
I don’t care.
Don’t sit backwards on your chair.
I don’t care.
Or pour syrup on your hair.
I don’t care .
You are acting like a clown.
I don’t care.
And we have to go to town.
I don’t care.
Don’t you want to come my dear?
I don’t care.
Would you rather stay right here?
I don’t care.
So his mother left him there.
His father said, “Get off your head
Or I will march you up to bed!”
Pierre said,
I don’t care.
I would think that you could see,
I don’t care.
Your head is where your feet should be.
I don’t care.
If you keep standing upside down,
I don’t care.
We’ll never, never get to town,
I don’t care.
If only you would say I care,
I don’t care.
I’d let you fold the folding chair,
I don’t care.
So his parents left him there.
They didn’t take him anywhere.
Now as the night began to fall,
A hungry lion paid a call.
He looked Pierre right in the eye,
And asked him: would you like to die?
And Pierre said,
I don’t care.
I can eat you don’t you see,
I don’t care.
Then you would be inside of me,
I don’t care.
Then you’d never have to bother,
I don’t care.
With the mother and your father,
I don’t care.
Is that all you have to say?
I don’t care.
Then I’ll eat you if I may.
So the lion ate Pierre.
Arriving home at 6 o’clock,
His parents had a dreadful shock.
They found the lion sick in bed.
They cried, "Pierre is surely dead!"
They pulled the lion by the hair,
They hit him with the folding chair.
His mother cried, where is Pierre?
And the lion answered,
I don’t care!
His father said,
"Pierre’s in there?"
They rushed the lion into the town.
The doctor shook him up and down.
And when the lion gave a roar,
Pierre fell out upon the floor.
He rubbed his eyes and scratched his head
And laughed because he wasn’t dead.
His mother cried and held him tight.
His father asked, "Are you alright?"
Pierre said, “I am feeling fine;
Please take me home it’s half past nine!”
The lion said, “If you would care,
To climb on me I’ll take you there!”
Then everyone looked at Pierre,
Who shouted, “Yes, indeed, I care!”
The lion took them home to rest,
Then stayed on as a weekend guest.
The moral of Pierre is care!
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