I’ve been lucky to get to watch the San Jose Speaker Series a few times because my parents had an extra ticket. Right now, the series is still virtual, so they can watch from wherever they are in the world and I’m able to watch from LA. I know that one day it will be in-person again and I won’t be able to enjoy these. But I’m grateful that I get to do so now. And when my parents were here about a month ago, they showed me the upcoming series and I immediately saw one that I was interested in getting their extra ticket if they had it.
I knew that I wouldn’t necessarily get the extra ticket since sometimes my parents give them to a friend, but I asked if I could have it if they had it available. And when the lecture was coming up this past week, my dad let me know that it was mine if I wanted it! And of course, I said that I did!
I’ve learned from the few times I’ve watched these lectures about how to make it the best setup for me. It’s done over Zoom, and it’s best if I run it through my laptop and then use AirPlay to send it to my AppleTV. And I also learned from the past to double and triple check the start time so I don’t miss the beginning of it. I also set an alert on my calendar so I wouldn’t miss the start time. Thankfully, this time things went a lot smoother for me with setting everything up so I was ready to watch and sitting on my couch with a little bit of time to spare!
The only negative for me this time was that I was feeling pretty nauseous that day so I wasn’t as focused on watching as I could have been. I did try to time out my medications so I would be feeling my best while watching, but I was distracted by feeling sick and I know that I missed parts of what President Obama said.
But even with feeling sick and missing some parts of it, I really enjoyed this lecture! President Obama had some fun stories to share about his time as president and his life in politics. And I appreciated how he was honest about things that were tough for him during his presidency and where he might have been able to improve. I think admitting flaws or imperfections is a positive character trait because it shows you can grow from your past.
I do wish these lectures were recorded because I would love to watch them again and see what I missed. And I know that because of other distractions in my life that I had moments when I zoned out. Even though I really tried to focus, sometimes my mind wanders. And if I could rewatch this then I could see the parts that I missed the first time.
I’m still so grateful that my parents let me have their extra ticket for this. President Obama was the first speaker for this new series, so maybe I’ll get a chance to watch another one this season. And I’m guessing that after this season, as long as things are safer, the next season will be back to in-person so I won’t have this same opportunity. But I’ve been enjoying them, even when things aren’t always going my way, and I’m going to appreciate whatever lectures I can watch even if this was my last one.
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