On Friday, September 30th, in the early evening, a gigantic line wrapped around the Edwin A. Stevens building; a line filled with excited Stevens students who were ready to see their childhood hero in action. As part of the final day of Stevens’ TechFest, Bill Nye the Science Guy was slated to speak to as much of the student body as could fill the Debaun Auditorium. I was lucky enough to have registered for a ticket myself, and was filled with nostalgic bliss to see Bill Nye on stage in front of my eyes. Over the course of about an hour, Bill Nye took us on a journey through time and space, starting with his father’s passion for sun dials, passing through his research in planetary science, and finally leading to how we, as engineering students of Stevens Institute of Technology, could “Dare I say it, CHANGE THE WORLD!”.
Indeed, his talk really gave me a new resolve for my studies. He reminded us all of how insignificant we are as “grains of sand standing on a grain of sand surrounded by millions upon millions of grains of sand”, and yet how each one of us has the potential to make a huge difference in the world. We must learn to do as much as we possibly can with what we have, and take pride in all our endeavors.
Bill, if you happen to be reading this blog entry (as unlikely as it may be), know that you spoke to a room of overjoyed students, 98% of who consider you a childhood hero and inspiration, and 2% who had never seen you before and now consider you a role model.
Thank you for re-energizing this campus, and know that I, personally, would not be where I am today without the influence of your TV show and other publicly broadcast science TV shows. You taught me to challenge everything, including my own perceptions, and you helped to teach me how the world worked, as well as motivate me to enter into the engineering field.
Thank you, Bill Nye, for continuing to be your awesome, wacky self.
Michael
