Carpe Diem

Most lecturers over their careers meet literally thousands of students. It would be satisfying to think these lecturers could positively transform the lives of all these students. Equally, it would be good if each meeting could positively add to each student’s knowledge and personal development. However, in reality transformative educational experiences are not commonplace, but this makes them even more special when they occur.

A recent example concerns a discussion about the pace of change and it went something like this: the world turns at an incredible speed (1,040 miles/hour) but thanks to gravity we do not feel it. Similarly, technology moves at an incredible pace. Over the history of computing hardware, processing power doubles approximately every eighteen to twenty four months (according to Moore’s Law, 1965).

So over the course of an undergraduate programme: processing power will have doubled three times and the earth will have turned some 1,095 times. The future at the onset of your course will therefore have changed incredibly by the time you graduate.

A discussion followed which including a number of ideas about what the future of advertising and marketing would look like. A consensus was reached where we all agreed that the future of advertising and marketing won’t feel like advertising and marketing as new ideas and methods will have been developed. I used the example of the changing media and technology landscape during my childhood which began with black and white TV to the development of personal computing and advanced data handling.

At this stage a further discussion ensued around how I became a lecturer. I suggested that all students in the room could become a lecturer if they really wanted to.  A look of horror appeared on several students faces; one of two students laughed and several students’ pondered and considered the proposition.

Some weeks later one student has completed several teaching sessions and has applied to enter a PhD programme with the aim of teaching at its conclusion. This student although embarking on a testing journey has made a potentially life-changing or at least career changing decision.

Whether a discussion about the pace of change is entirely attributable to this direction is debateable, but a decision was taken around these events and in the swirling mists of time a moment was seized by a student to do something that has the enormous potential to transform their life and others they will come in contact with.

Moore, G.E. (1965) ‘Cramming more components onto integrated circuits: with unit cost falling as the number of components per circuit rises, by 1975 economics may dictate squeezing as many as 65,000 components on a single silicon chip’, Electronics, Volume 38, Number 8.

About the Author: Guy Parrott

Guy currently teaches brand management on masters’ programmes. Guy was recognised by both staff and students in the past for his teaching, involvement in partnership activities and commitment to enhancing student experience.