Jimmy Mason, a freshman drama major, lands on Carnegie Mellon's Pittsburgh campus like most freshmen do: excited, anxious, and alone. He is armed with a copy of The Last Lecture, the memoir of the late professor Randy Pausch. The book was added two years ago to the freshmen welcome packet.

When Mason opens the door to his triple dorm room, he finds two strangers with whom he will live for the next school year: economics major Baris Koksalan and architecture major Elijah Hughes. Sure, they're both freshmen, but Mason can't fathom how he will have anything in common with his arbitrarily chosen roommates. "These are some of the smartest people in the world; they probably have 4.0s and perfect SAT scores," he thinks to himself. "I'm an actor."

Orientation activities are up next, including icebreaker games in Gesling Stadium, dorm pride wars on the Cut, and something called The Last Lecture—A Conversation about College and Life. Mason had read the book and figures he should attend. What's the harm? Split up into groups by dorm room and floor, Mason and his two roommates and other students from his dorm sit in a circle. The discussion leader asks them how they feel the book relates to them. Silence. In terms of brick walls, a strong theme in Pausch's book, life had delivered Mason a particularly tall one: dyslexia. Certainly, he has something to say, but no one wants to kick off freshman year being known as the oddball. He stays silent.

Suddenly, a student speaks. Then another. And another. During the next hour, they touch on everything from Pausch's work in virtual reality to his yearning to bridge two seemingly different worlds: art and science. The talk ends. The students head back to their rooms.

Still chatting about the book in their dorm room later that night, Koksalan mentions that he has Auto-Tune, a popular music program, on his laptop. All of a sudden, the roommates are rapping, laying down beats. "Here we are, three people who wouldn't really ever have a reason to interact, creating something together," says Mason, "I swear, Randy Pausch was with us."

Since that night, the collaborations have continued—everything from Hughes pointing out to his roommates the campus' architectural marvels to Mason practicing monologues with his dorm-room audience. The three roommates are still freshmen, but they all agree: They no longer feel alone.

Nick Ducassi (A'10)