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• 1 2025-06-25T20:49:08-04:00 "When This Professor Got Cancer, He Didn’t Quit. He Taught a Class About It" by Katie Selig, contributed by Allison Mi (2025) 4 plain 2025-06-25T20:59:37-04:00 At first, when I was brainstorming ideas for this Scalar contribution, I thought of potentially sending in the movie clip of About Time, when the time-traveling main character realizes he can no longer travel back in time to visit his since deceased father. I love this movie clip because even though it represents a fictional scenario, at its core, the movie perfectly captures what death makes us feel: a valuation of the finite moments we have. In the realization that this would be his last time seeing his dad, the main character and his dad find a way to make the most of their last time together.
  
   
  
  However, I have decided to proceed with a different piece for this Scalar assignment. Last week I was scrolling through the New York Times and was immediately drawn to this article about a Stanford Professor diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, who decided to teach a class in response to his diagnosis. I found this article to draw many similarities to the movie clip described above. Both revolve around anticipated loss and making meaning of the little time one has left. I found the article compelling because it did a great job of highlighting both the experience of Dr. Lin, but also the experience of the students who took his class. I found it inspiring and touching that Dr. Lin decided to pivot his diagnosis into a class that would forever impact future medical professionals. In many ways, I find this to be a way he memorializes himself. I was also interested in students' responses. Many became attached to Dr. Lin, but there is a tension in realizing that a year from now, Dr. Lin may not be alive anymore, despite his current energetic demeanor. Since reading this article, I find myself naturally thinking about it every day. Dr. Lin's story reminds me of the fragility of life, the finite nature of life, and the beauty in recognizing such and taking action to make meaning of the time we do have here.