Doon Youth Centre

13-Year-Old Makes Solar Power Breakthrough

Shagun — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 08:15:58 +0000

While most 13-year-olds spend their free time playing video games or cruising Facebook, one 7th grader was trekking through the woods uncovering a mystery of science. After studying how trees branch in a very specific way, Aidan Dwyer created a solar cell tree that produces 20-50% more power than a uniform array of photovoltaic panels. His impressive results show that using a specific formula for distributing solar cells can drastically improve energy generation. The study earned Aidan a provisional U.S patent – it’s a rare find in the field of technology and a fantastic example of how biomimicry can drastically improve design.

Aidan Dwyer took a hike through the trees last winter and took notice of patterns in the mangle of branches. His studies into how they branch in very specific ways lead him to a central guiding formula, the Fibonacci sequence. Take a number, add it to the number before it in a sequence like 1+1=2 then 2+1=3 then 3+2=5, 8, 13, 21 and so on a very specific pattern emerges. Turns out the pattern and its corresponding ratios are reflected in nature all the time, and Aidan’s keen observation of how trees branch according to the formula lead him to test the theory. First he measured tree branches by how often they branch and at what degree from each other.

To see why they branch this way he built a small solar array using the Fibonacci formula, stepping cells at specific intervals and heights. He then compared the energy output with identical cells set in a row. Aidan reports the results: “The Fibonacci tree design performed better than the flat-panel model. The tree design made 20% more electricity and collected 2 1/2 more hours of sunlight during the day. But the most interesting results were in December, when the Sun was at its lowest point in the sky. The tree design made 50% more electricity, and the collection time of sunlight was up to 50% longer!”

He says “But the best part of what I learned was that even in the darkest days of winter, nature is still trying to tell us its secrets!”

His work is certainly piquing the interest of the solar industry, and even more impressively he is demonstrating the power of biomimicry — a concept that many see as the pinnacle of good design, but one that thus far has been exceptionally difficult to achieve. Way to go!

This article was originally written by Andrew Michler. Read the full story here.

Cheap & Best

WebAdmin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:28:48 +0000

This article was originally written and posted on my personal blog.

How would you like your design? Image Credit: Collin Harman

Sidd: Thanks for stopping by my website and considering me for your project.How would you like your design?
Client: Oh don’t mention.We are clear about this. We want it, cheap and best.

Sidd: Thank you for your prompt reply.I am sorry but i will have to turn down this project.
Client: Why? I haven’t even told you the details yet. This is going to be one hell of a project.You’re going to love this one.

Sidd: May i take the liberty of speaking straight with you sire?
Client: Absolutely. Go ahead. Shoot. I like people who talk straight and honest.

Sidd: That this is going to be one hell of project. I agree. But not quite for the same reasons as you do, perhaps.
Client: I don’t understand that. I meant that this is a very important and big project.If this goes well, i am sure it will bring a lot of business for you.Plus, i know you are a “love-the-challenge”, type and i foresee, lot’s of challenges ahead on this one.

Sidd: I think you do sire. You do understand me well on this. Sure, this is going to be one hell of a project. And yes, the challenges will be great, i too can foresee that. And most likely too great to be overcome.
Client: Now i really don’t understand you. You seem to like the challenge part, but are you saying that this is going to be too much for you? That you won’t be able to rise to the challenge.

Sidd: Yes, sire that is right.
Client: I wish i could understand this better. So in other words, are you doing this project or not?

Sidd: Sorry, sire.No.
Client: Alright then. Thanks for your time. But i still don’t know why you turned down that project. I haven’t even told you any specifics and it’s over already.

Sidd: Sire, i am afraid that you did tell me enough.
Client: Now look young man. Please don’t play with words. I need a clear and precise explanation. Do you have one or not?

Sidd: I most certainly do sire.
Client: What?

Sidd: Sire, that cheap & best don’t go together. That which is best, will not come cheap and that which is cheap will not be the best. That alone sire was enough for me to make up mind. And not the first time, sire.
I wish you all the best with your project.If you will, excuse me for now sire.
Client: I see.Alright, go on.

Sidd: Thank you sire.

Doon Youth Centre
By Siddharth Sharma | View on Facebook

Empowering youth today for transformed and complete individuals and families of tomorrow !
Doon Youth Centre has now been serving in our communities for over 11 years.

Bring on the learning revolution!

WebAdmin — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 22:00:11 +0000

Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we’re educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.

The Question of a Lonesome Existence

Shashank — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:04:39 +0000

Relationships by sadlilelf

Many among us, frustrated from the deceptions we face in day to day life, make a choice to remain isolated; to turn ourselves into an island which is inaccessible to the world. We let no one build a bridge to it and/or anchor their ships on it. Eventually, we end up in a situation where guarding ourselves and our tormenting secrets becomes so much of a priority that we become irritated at the slightest amount of good behavior from anyone because we consider it an attempt of invasion. We metamorphose ourselves into a Loner.

When one attempts to justify such behavior, it can be rather sincerely justified with a myopic vision but when one attempts to look through the hourglass of time, he can notice the disastrous consequences that may arise.

A general human tendency is to avoid bad experiences. And when one discovers that many relationships that he cherishes in life are also a major source of bad experiences (because no relationship can exist without ups and downs), he tries to disconnect from these sources. If not managed properly, this can result in a mutual loss of warmth. Because the relationship is already going through a ‘down’ moment; the lack of communication at this stage leads to further slackening of the bonds and then snapping back of one or of both the parties into their respective cocoons.

If a person is going through hard times, this process can easily occur in most, even all, his relationships (though it may happen in superficially different manners) and the resultant cocoon can give birth to the ‘island’ — A Loner.

The Loner, at this stage, becomes the happiest person. The shards of the broken relationships are stepped over and it seems to him that an entire new World full of (often materialistic) opportunity has opened up. Everything seems achievable because the ”perceived’ shackles of old relationships no longer exist. And the Loner jumps for it. He starts afresh, slogging through the day to achieve the ambitions.

But this happiness is short-lived. In order to achieve any ambition, social interaction is necessary. This is where the trouble begins again. As we have no one close, even when we make mistakes (which every human does), no one is there to point it out. I am not saying that we need a guide for every decision we make. I am saying that even the most perfect of humans make mistakes because what they consider correct may be wrong from some other perspective.

The fault of a Lonesome existence is the lack of a neutral and/or opposing perspective. We perceive the world the way we grew up looking at it and not the way others did. So what for me is a garden hose may actually be the elephant’s trunk in the big picture.

Hence, it is necessary for us to understand that healthy social interactions with multiple persons in various healthy settings are an essential for healthy living. It helps us in learning and respecting different perspectives. This in no sense requires a modification of perspective if it is already healthy. But if your perspective is unhealthy, and you are making mistakes due to it, you are free to manufacture one by reaching logical conclusions from what you learnt from the discussions.

One may argue that this kind of interaction does not necessitates a real emotional bonding between two people and settings like workplaces, schools and parties are enough for a healthy living. But what we fail to realise is the fact that some aspects of our perspective are so deeply engrained (such as our understanding of love and friendship, of honesty and of our duties) that it needs to be constantly (and humbly) challenged to bring about a positive change. It also requires a lot of struggle to modify these often life-long understandings; which one can only cope with when there is a person who affirms the positive changes and supports even when things seem to be going wrong. It, also, has to be mutual: both the people in the relationship have to accept each others perspective and try to work out a common, undoubtedly better, perspective. [This is the reason that the institutions of marriage and friendship are held in high esteem: because two different people from two different backgrounds come together and create a harmony.]

Therefore, we’ll modify our perspective and add to the requirements for healthy living making it, “healthy social interactions with multiple persons in various healthy settings at all levels of emotional attachment“.

In the end, I shall address the issue of ‘downs’ in any relationship. Whenever there is a down, question yourself. In most cases, the down is a result of events that took place because of mismatched perspectives. So instead of challenging the person, it is better to challenge your own and his perspective in a humble manner. Even in the worst case, when either of you are unable to modify it for the better; at least, both of will have an understanding, hence a sense of respect, for each others perspective.

What after 100% ?

Sushant Bhattacharyya — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:54:03 +0000

15 Jun 2011, ominous day in India’s education system—cut off percentage for admission into a prestigious college in Delhi has hit the ceiling 100 percent! Sadly, our oft-repeated apprehension at Doon Youth Center (DYC) for more than a decade has come true. I recall an incident many years ago when one Class X girl having scored 92.3% expressed dissatisfaction for scoring less than her colleague’s 92.4 %. What an irony of senseless competition and liberal marking system!
With focus on increasing cut-off percentage for admission into colleges, pressure on students to score high marks starts as early as junior classes. To do so, means fair or foul do not seem to matter as also promoted by most parents/teachers.

Mother of a class X student, in fact, advised her son to cheat.

Feedback from students is alarming as almost everyone cheats during exams!

Purpose of Education—Existing

To score high marks while in school/college—commercial hub patronizing tuition centers.
To become achievers of money, power & status
Question—Does this purpose contribute towards maintaining good health and healthy relationships? Introspection of ground realities would establish enormity of the dissatisfaction level!
What Should Be The Purpose? Clear understanding on certain Principles of Life may be the determining factor. Principles of life:-
What is more important—‘Human Being’ or ‘Human Doing’?
According to a luminary in this field, purpose of education is primarily two—1) to teach students the difference between rights and wrongs and 2) teach them to develop the ability of choosing right over wrong.
Who am I and what have I been created for?
In context of the thoughts (akin to those of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and others) of Albert Einstein “Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school. Try not to become a man of success but a man of value”, what is the relevance of pursuing formal education?

We all need to do out of the box thinking to find solution! Wish I had all the answers.

The Cash & Love Theory

WebAdmin — Mon, 30 May 2011 03:49:51 +0000

This article was originally written and posted on my personal blog.

This my friend is for you. The creative one out there.

We all grow up with hobbies. You grow up with dreams wanting to be involved in something you love and cherish a lot. You dream that someday your passion we also be your job.But, sadly this happens for a very few. The very very few.

Before we can take stock of the situation, we find ourselves married well and truly to a job, that which is just a job.
This job is a regular 10-5 one, that you go through Monday to Friday ( and painfully sometimes on Saturday ) and wait upon the month end to bring in the money.And then all over again starting with the dreaded and hated Monday.
It usually is a secure job, often revered and well or satisfactorily paying. It allows your wife to shop, kids to get an education, your family to have a holiday once in a while, a nice or at least a decent car in the garage of a decent house.It also pays your bills.It does the usual tricks and keeps you well placed in the society. Well how the world looks at it, you are made. Sub-consciously maybe even you believe the same. But here is one slight problem in the the whole gamble. There’s no love in it !! It’s just a Cash Job.

You have it made in the eyes of the world, but the you in you lights up not at the office desk. It lights-up elsewhere. In the heart of hearts lays your passion buried. A dream, a wish, a desire. You find yourself yearning to be engaged in this passion. You find time after work, on weekends and ” even during office! This is what ticks you. This is your thrill. This is what makes you forget all else and dive into a never-ending thirst for more. All of us , creatives ( and perhaps all else too ) have this second job. This is our love. For the love of it. This is about the passion in our hearts. This is about our Love Job.

This job doesn’t pay your bills( certainly not well enough ).This job doesn’t provide security( mostly ). This job most likely is insignificant in the eyes of the world ( at least mine is ), but for you, this is it. If money is no object, you wouldn’t want anything else to do.You would have long quit the Cash Job. That is the passion you have for it. The frustration of being chained in that for which you have little or no love and seeing time pass you by , with you away from pursuing the passion of your heart is nightmarish. I believe many of us lie chained in such a way, leave a few fortunate/courageous/wise/smart ones.

I am no stranger to the theory myself, with the last few years spent pursuing the passion of my heart. I tell you one thing, I have hated Sundays and days of rest during my time as a web designer, a freelance web designer. Only because that keeps Alice away from Wonderland. Though I do realise that self-discipline is important, it can be hard when your passion is overbearing.Breaks are important and you need them. Yet what a wonderful contrast from the dreaded Mondays and the unbearably awaited weekends.

I come to work ( room adjacent to my bedroom) every morning with great anticipation about the great learning/knowledge that lies ahead in the day. I sleep every night with tonnes of ideas about the next day and the current projects. It is simply awesome.
I am a qualified Merchant Marine, a job that brings in some really decent money. A job that pays bills and allows some luxury as well.As it stands, I have traded that with something that just doesn’t measure up in terms of the money. But totally overshadows in the areas of satisfaction and love. Yahooooo !

But if you can’t pay the bills then you got a big problem.How are you going to survive if the cash flow stops ? What about the responsibilities ? There is a tonnes of situations that do arise when money stops flowing in.What can one do then ?
I think the trick is to maintain a balance. How you do that is really up to you. It is probably unwise to totally let-go of your Cash cow to delve into this other job that your passion leads you into. Well if you can monetize ( like in my case ) this other job, then you have landed the perfect job. If you haven’t then you can probably maintain a balance and keep working at it. It takes hard work and much patience to be able to become skilled in any profession. It may be faster when you love what you do, but it will still take some significant time. So you better not let the cash cow go.

Keep working hard,focused and patient as you work to make a final transition. But avoid any hasty & unwise decisions that tell you that you were born on Crypton and that you are super-man because of which you will do the impossible – make the transition and make the money real quick. That just doesn’t happen.There ain’t no fun in the money that is not the labour of your love and hard work, both.
Enough said.

Life is short and there is no sense of having regrets. Time is a non-renewable resource.
Make sure you make the most of it.

Photo Credits: mania & captainosaka

This article was inspired by Hugh MacLeod’s How to Be Creative

Drugs,Youth and Punjab – GLUT

WebAdmin — Sun, 15 May 2011 19:36:18 +0000

GLUT -As the word suggests – To flood (a market) with an excess of goods so that supply exceeds demand.

More than 70% of Punjab’s youth is addicted to drugs. A multi million dollar drug nexus operating under the noses of the Border Security Force, The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, The Narcotics Control Bureau and the Intelligence Bureau, leaving them as mere bystanders…

The following short film is an eye-opener. Get ready to be shocked by the truth.This is happening in India. This is happening at a scale that is unbelievable. This is happening to our youth.
Please share this link – http://thedyc.org/blog/drugs-youth-and-punjab-glut/ with others and spread awareness !
You can also hit the Facebook Like button at the end of the article to share this article/video.
Thanks.

Success—The elusive seven letter word

Sushant Bhattacharyya — Wed, 11 May 2011 21:01:51 +0000

‘Success is a journey not destination’ is an oft-repeated adage.

On what criteria do I select that route is not clear to most.
In route selection Stephen Covey’s thoughts—‘everyone is busy climbing the success ladder. No one pauses to think whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall’—makes a lot of sense to me.

Unfortunately we grow up developing ‘warped understanding of success’—high percentage signifies good education; post for School Captain/Prefect; be competitive not cooperative; obtaining certificate of merit in a field, popularity of which, ironically, depends upon herd mentality; winning debates & gold medals; admission in branded colleges; pursuing career through IIMs, IITs, Medical colleges, Central Services, Defense Services; quantum of affluence etc.

Should one be event-focused in pursuing success? In that case the related moot point is—as human beings what is more important ‘Being’ or ‘Doing’? Recently two senior bureaucrats (IFS) were recalled from foreign assignments for gross misconduct—domestic violence and sexual harassment.
Involvement of senior Officers of Defense Services, Bureaucrats & Police in Scams have sullied the image of respective organizations. Though great ‘doers’ professionally, do they symbolize success? In other words, by steering away from ‘Being’ to ‘Doing’ alone can anyone be successful? I do not think so!

To quote Albert Einstein “Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.

Personally, I have learned the lessons of life only after I left the school. We are creatures of our values and character. Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.” Somehow such profound perspective fades into irrelevance against the growing focus on Money, Power & Status!

Whereas each one has the right to have perspectives, how realistically one can pursue it is the question. One more nebulous yet popular perception on success is—seeking happiness & contentment!

We are never taught the art of dealing with adversities although real success stories are replete with failures like that of Albert Einstein, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, APJ Abdul Kalam, Thomas Edison, Nelson Mandela, Aung Sung Sui Ki to name few. On failure one experienced teacher had this to say after retirement—the word ‘failure’ should be removed from the dictionary. There is nothing known as failure, it is only ‘delayed success’! What a perceptive comment! In the words of a youth icon, perceived as a future Noble laureate, “emerging ten times stronger after failing would be success for her”.

Students’ Perspectives:
Class 8 student: “success is of three types—what I think is success, what others think is success and what is real success?” Another point of view of a class 9 student was “attaining one’s goal is not success because my goal may be to murder someone. But that is not success”. “I do not know what success is. But I think it has something to do with the soul” stated a Class 9 student.

How the hackneyed and archaic education system and Value Consensus (Money, Power & Status) of society would impact such young mind of good thinkers in future is a matter of concern. How to harness the potential of youth to facilitate cogent understanding of success is the question?

Dichotomy of Life.

“First I was dying to finish high school and start college. And then I was dying to finish college and start working. Then I was dying to marry and have children. And then I was dying for my children to grow old enough so I could go back to work. But then I was dying to retire. And now I’m dying. And suddenly I realized I forgot to live”. Anonymous.

If that be the pattern of rat race for success, then one would remain a rat at the end of it!
When Do I Come to Know Whether I am Successful? Only on completion of the race can one know the result to evaluate the degree of success. In context of life, one can remain in a denial mode or confusion until confronted with a mega crisis or old age afflictions whichever is earlier! In retrospect, one need not wait that long to make course correction in life!

My Perspective
Rather ironical yet true that post-retirement from the Army, my life was cruising along aimlessly until the age of 60! The understanding on success evolved as this ‘much talked about but least understood topic’ featured frequently during workshops and while interacting with others—students as well as adults.

“Choosing to enter into the arena of action, determined to give yourself to that cause which will better mankind and last for eternity. Nothing is successful that does not contribute in a positive way to help people.”

Excerpt from the book ‘Be All You Can Be’ by John C. Maxwell enabled me to develop more clarity. I have every reason to believe from my own experience that success would remain a chimera until internalization of a well-defined Purpose of Life. The challenge is to discover one’s Purpose of Life by asking the right questions based on principle-centered thinking and life style.

Hobbies

Girija — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:40:48 +0000

Why do I not have any hobbies? As of today, the 2nd of March 2011, this question is bothering me. It is also the inspiration behind this writing.

I do not know about kids today, and while I see no reason to call myself a grown-up, one of the most popular questions we asked each other during our childhood was – “What’s your hobby?”

After exchanging introductory greetings on meeting the first time, or probably after the two sets of parents left their children to play together while they could enjoy their own cup of tea and gossip, we asked each other this question: “Tumhari favourite hobby kya hai?” (Translation: “What is your ‘favourite’ hobby?”), often accompanied by questions such as – “What’s your favourite game? Who is your favourite hero (i.e. actor)? Who is your favourite herione (i.e. actress)?” etc.

This was an integral part of all childhood conversations; in the little bit of English we knew, we would try to chat up. Of course, the language used to move swiftly from English, to Hinglish, and eventually to the native Hindi. ‘Shyness’ came naturally to many of us, and the hobby question was an important ice-breaker. On many occasions, it was the parents who introduced the children to each other, hoping they would then converse freely. This had a good failure rate too, as many times we would just not get along even after being left to the company of one another.

But whenever the attempt was successful, there was a general pattern of reciprocation that the hobby question followed -

Question: “Teri hobby kya hai?” (Translation: “Hey, what is your hobby?”)
Reply: ” Meri hobby?…aaa…drawing. Aur teri?” (Translation: “My hobby?… is drawing. And yours?”)
Response to reply: “Cricket khelna. Aur mera favourite batsman hai Sachin.” (Translation: My hobby is playing cricket. And my favourite batsman is Sachin Tendulkar.)

It wasn’t like we didn’t have any worthwhile question to ask…perhaps we didn’t…but childhood conversations usually didn’t build up like interactions among adults do. One reason was also that these talks were accompanied by other more engaging activties like playing games, fiddling around with things, etc. Nevertheless, it gave us the golden opportunity to brag…boast about ourselves and our likings to our heart’s content.

Kids apart, the hobby question was frequently posed by adults too: “Beta aapki hobby kya hai?” (“What’s your hobby child?”); with occasional omission of the word ‘hobby’: “Beta aapko kya accha lagta hai?” (“What do you like doing son?”)
So it was a standard practice among adults too – teachers, uncle and aunties, relatives whom we loved, relatives whom we hated – just about everybody had this question for us children.

Enter Adolesence. Exit innocence.

Like many other things that either got corrupted or substituted, the hobby question too got lost somewhere down the line. The question that took the mantle became ubiquitous in no time, well before we started acknowledging its coming to power and its omnipresence, and certainly ages before we acknowledged that it was the most dumb question of all, elliciting the most frank and spontaneous response there could ever be. It is ‘the’ question of our times, and even though it starts an interaction instead of breaking-ice like the hobby question did, its meaning in our lives is not less significant in any way.

No more mystery…’the’ question is: “HEY, WHAT’S UP?”, and the prompt reply is: “NOTHING YAAR…” (Translation: “Nothing friend…”)

{Hail Cultural Imperialism. Hats off’ to Cultural Imperialism. And Blame the media}

Tum engineer hee banoge (You have to become an engineer)

Other intruders in our set of popular questions were much more annoying: “Will you take Science or Commerce? So what do you plan to do after class 12th? After Graduation? After Post-Graduation? Will you get a job in this field?” etc.
Let me not forget to mention the childhood question which actually is the predecessor of all these annoying questions, always posed by adults to kids- “So what do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor? An engineer?”

Steve Jobs’s 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

WebAdmin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 06:11:11 +0000

At his Stanford University commencement speech, Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple and Pixar, urges us to pursue our dreams and see the opportunities in life’s setbacks — including death itself.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960′s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.