INSPIRE: “While There’s Life, There’s Hope” — Stephen Hawking
Like any other inspiring stories we know, many of them went through the rain before being able to see the rainbow. Same thing goes for Stephen Hawking.
What is INSPIRE?
INSPIRE is a recurring publication developed by our in-house content team focusing on the takeaways from how successful individuals spent their time at university.
We will share our learnings on those who have gone on to do great things in life and as a result, we hope this series fuels your journey from university to careers.
Strive for Excellence!
An Introduction:
Stephen William Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was a director of research at the Centre of Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. At the age of 17, he received a first-class BA (Hons.) degree in Physics, University College, Oxford. During his graduate work (1963), Hawking was diagnosed with an early-onset slow-progressing form of motor neurone disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) of Lou Gehrig’s Disease) that gradually paralysed him over the decades. Overtime he couldn’t speak, and had to use a speech-generating device, one was controlled using a handheld switch and eventually by using a single cheek muscle.
Early Life, Education, and Career:
With many movie tributes dedicated to his academical and inspiring work, one of the most widely known movie is “The Theory of Everything”, which was a 2014 biographical drama film directed by James Marsh to talk about Hawking’s roller coaster in life. One of the most famous quotes from that movie, that Hawking stated was:
“There should be no boundaries to human endeavor. We are all different. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope.”
This quote alone gives us a portrayal of Hawking’s life, during doubts and disappointment he managed to believe in himself and built resilience towards the obstacles he was facing. Hawking wasn’t born into a wealthy family, yet his family placed a high value on education. To that, his father wanted him to attend a well-regarded school at the age of 13, but he was ill on the day of the scholarship examination and his family still couldn’t afford the school fees without the financial aid, so he had to remain at the St. Albans School. Alluding to his saying ‘there’s a reason for everything’, from 1958 and onwards, Hawking and his friends managed to build a computer from clock parts, an old telephone switchboard, and other recycled components. Although, all what he did resembles him as the “Einstein” of the school, Hawking was not initially successful academically. However, within time, he began to show progress and aptitude in science and continued to read mathematics at university. In 1959, Hawking was awarded a scholarship after taking the examinations in March 1959.
At the beginning of his university life, Hawking was considerably bored and lonely — he claimed that academic work in university was “ridiculously easy”. As a response to this matter, Hawking decided to join the college boat club where he joined a rowing crew and became a part of the society in joining the bandwagon. He also decided to listen to classical music and started becoming interested in science fiction. At the end of the day, he was concerned he was viewed as a lazy student. During a viva, an oral examination, he decided to bargain his position to the examiners since he needed to be in the first-class honours to obtain a better education.
“If you award me first, I will go to Cambridge. If I receive a second, I shall stay in Oxford. So I expect you will give me a first.”
It was said that the examiners were intelligent enough to realise they were talking to someone far clever than most of themselves, and managed to give him a first-class BA (Hons.) degree in physics. By then, he began his graduate work at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in October 1962. After that, Hawking faced difficulties in his doctoral degree due to his motor neuron disease, and fell into depression shortly. He almost lost hope in continuing his study, but with his friend’s encouragement, he returned to work and managed to generate more topics on The Big Bang and Steady State theories. Hawking received a research fellowship at Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge, in March 1966, he also had his PhD degree in applied mathematics and theoretical physics (Relativity and Cosmology). His essay of Singularities and the Geometry of Space Time shared top honors with one by Penrose to win that year’s prestigious Adams Prize.
On top of all of his bright achievements and outstandingly aspiring stories, Hawking also participated in being a role model for disabled people. He joined the other luminaries in signing the Charter for the Third Millennium on Disability, which called on the government to prevent disability and protect the rights of the disabled. Hawking was also awarded the Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize of the American Physical Society.
Hawking’s Remarks:
Hawking died at his house in Cambridge on March 14th 2018, at the age of 76. His death date is the birth date of Albert Einstein, and has made a lot of tributes from people from science, entertainment, politics, and other areas.
Before he died, in 2006, Hawking posed an open question on the Internet:
“In a world that is in chaos politically, socially and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years?”,
Later clarifying: “I don’t know the answer. That is why I asked the question, to get people to think about it, and to be aware of the dangers we now face.”
Takeaways For You:
As young adults, one of the lessons we can take from Stephen Hawking’s life is the fact that life will always have better plans for those who struggle. Here are a few other takeaways you can infer from Hawking’s inspiring journey:
- We sometimes feel that we don’t have the strength to do something. But from Hawking, we learn that he doesn’t blame the circumstances and continues to make efforts to improve, until he can finally achieve his goals and more.
- Hawking didn’t reach the peak effortlessly. He went through lots of hurdles, but he did not give up and kept persevering to get back up and to reach the end goal.
- He made bold choices at great risk, things that gave him many lessons and valuable experiences. Until the end of his life, Hawking could still say that he was happy, even though he faced multiple challenges. This shows us that happiness has always been a choice for all of us, and as Hawking likes to say:
“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the Universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”
