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John Hennessy
President of Stanford University
John Hennessy: When we did the science fair project, which I did with a good friend of mine, Steve Angle, I realized that I had a real interest in technology at that point, and really getting involved in technology. We really didn't know what we were doing. We could have gone out and read some books -- college textbooks of course. But we could have gone out and read some books, and probably cut the amount of time we were spending on the project -- that we had to spend on it to make this thing work -- in half, but we were a little bit naïve. Nonetheless, perseverance, hard work brought us to the right conclusion, and we had something that worked, something we could take great pride in, and I think that really convinced me that I was interested in technology as a field, and going into something in the computing area.
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Lauryn Hill
Singer, Songwriter & Record Producer
When I was nine years old, or something around that age, I found a 45 record in the basement that belonged to my mother, and I had one of those little record players that you carry in a little suitcase, and that was the only record that would fit in my personal record player, so I played it. Whatever the song was it touched me, it moved me, and I realized that I wanted to find more of those little records. That's what I used to call them. "Where are the little records? I want to find these little records," and went into the basement and just unearthed tons and tons of these records from my mother's childhood and her youth. So here I am eight, nine years old, everybody else was listening to New Edition and whatever current group is on the radio. And I'm listening to Shep and the Limelites, and Gladys Knight and the Pips, and all these older groups, and really loving it and becoming -- just doused myself, doused myself in all this music and all this musical history. They really were my teachers, my musical teachers. I didn't go to Juilliard, or I wasn't classically trained, but by listening -- you know what I mean -- I grew an appreciation for certain musical philosophies and ideas and concepts. I understood what drums and bass and all different types of instrumentation were, just by virtue of my exposure to this music. I would fall asleep to it. You always talk about how students who don't want to study put your book under the pillow and sleep, but I literally fell asleep with the music. And I think there's so much of that I soaked up even in my dreams.
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Lauryn Hill
Singer, Songwriter & Record Producer
Lauryn Hill: Actually the music came before the acting. But while I was doing music I found myself meeting people who acted, and they exposed me to that field. And I was kind of like, "Hey, all right, I'll try it," always thinking, "Well, music is my first love." And I just stumbled -- I know when I tell you I stumbled upon all this, actually I didn't stumble, because there are no accidents. But I didn't have that intense ambition to be a musician or an actress. I just enjoyed it, and if there was an opportunity, hey, I'll go. And by enjoying it, because I loved it, it enabled me to get better at what I was doing, because there was a love behind it. It wasn't like, "I've got to do this." It wasn't just naked ambition. I really enjoyed what I was doing. And all the while that I enjoyed it, I was happy doing it. I was content doing it, whether it was for three squirrels in the park or with three acorns as compensation. It didn't matter to me. Because we loved it so much, I think that that was a reflection to others, I think that they saw that. That, to me, penetrated the minds and the hearts of people more than, "Hey, look how well we can play." It was something else that was communicated, by the music and by the artistry. And that created opportunity.
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Lauryn Hill
Singer, Songwriter & Record Producer
In having a good time, sometimes -- oh! -- you stumble upon a talent. Wow, like, say I'm going to sing this song. "Hey, you can sing, did you know that, girl?" "I can? Let me take this a little more seriously." But it was just something that we all did. It really was the performance part of humanity. I think I was just acting out on my humanity, on this gift that God gave me, and just being a kid. Really being a kid. And if I became sophisticated while I was doing it, if that took place, then I didn't know about it, because I certainly wasn't trying to. I just tried to sing that song just like Whitney Houston. You know what I mean? That really was the goal at that point. But if you love something, if you love something and if you're committed and diligent -- the things that happen! Some people who are blessed with gifts -- but then there are other people who can work toward -- even with the gift that I have now, I mean, I've leaned on God for so long. "Hey, God, you just gave me this gift, and I'm just going to go out there and sing." But it's only now that I'm realizing how much larger and how expansive my gift becomes when I actually pay attention to it and try to practice and try to perfect it. "I'm not going to warm up, I'm just going to go in the studio and I'm going to sing this song and inspiration will take me " and yes, that's true, we are inspired to do things and definitely. But now I'm understanding that -- like in the Bible, for example, when it talked about David, it always said that David was a skillful player. He played cunningly. So that took practice. And I'm not afraid of that anymore. That's exciting to me.
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Sir Edmund Hillary
Conqueror of Mt. Everest
Sir Edmund Hillary: Not really. I had a number of friends who were interested in tramping and trekking around our local hills, but as I got older, I discovered that I tended to be rather more energetic and stronger walkers than they were and so I always seemed to be pushing young ladies up steep hills and clamoring up trees to find out where we were. And I sort of quickly became pretty active in that sort of way. I still wasn't doing anything of great consequence, but I was loving the out-of-doors and loving forcing myself to travel quickly around the countryside and do very long treks and I enjoyed it very much.
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Sir Edmund Hillary
Conqueror of Mt. Everest
I had a grandmother who was an Irish grandmother who came out to New Zealand and she was a wonderful old lady. She lived up to 96 years old and, even in her 90s, she had great vitality and great enthusiasm and a tremendous sense of fun. I know that for a while I was quite influenced by her spirit she showed during the latter days of her life. But, I really have no idea why I wanted to keep dashing on in these ways because I realized that it wasn't the normal attitude of the majority of young people. Most young people were more interested in going to the movies or going to the beach or something or other. I really wasn't all that great on that sort of stuff. I just wanted to get out in the hills.
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