Meeting 'The Woz'

BVU speaker's brain is in 'constant overdrive'

When someone walks into a room wearing sneakers with a suit and tie, it can really make a statement about his or her personality.

That was the first thing I noticed about Steve Wozniak when I met him backstage at Buena Vista University’s American Heritage Lecture Series, about 10 minutes before it began Friday afternoon.

As one of the student panelists who spent months preparing questions for “The Woz” as per tradition for this bi- or triennial event, I knew a little more about Wozniak’s personality than the average person. I’ve watched videos of him speaking, I’ve read his autobiography, and I’ve researched his numerous honors and awards.

But that still didn’t prepare me for the laidback, super smart, incredibly influential, shockingly opinionated yet apolitical man who stood in front of me.

All six of us panelists were standing behind the curtain when “The Woz” came around the corner to personally shake all of our hands. We barely got out our names and majors before he started spewing out all this crazy knowledge he has.

I was speechless. In a matter of five minutes, he talked about his college career, the many psych courses he took, and how studying the brain helps us make more human-like technology. Each one of us stared at him with wide eyes as we tried to soak up his intelligence.

Next thing I know, I’m sitting two seats away from one of Apple’s co-founders, the man who made personal computers a reality, on a stage in front of over 700 peers, faculty and staff.

Just like backstage, words flew out of his mouth a mile a minute, and his thoughts jumped all over the place. My guess is that he is so hyper-smart that his speech can’t relay information as fast as his mind comes up with it. I picture it as his brain having physical gears constantly turning in overdrive, too fast for his mouth to keep up. Because of this, and perhaps other reasons, he failed to really answer any of the actual questions we asked. While it was slightly disappointing, it was somewhat comical, and altogether, “The Woz” still had a lot of interesting things to say.

My favorite part of the lecture was his message about happiness and being yourself. He would often bring answers back to these ideas. Success, he said, should not be measured in money or fame, but in the happiness your career brings you. That’s what he always said drove him to start Apple—not for the money, but because he loved to build computers, and he wanted to use that joy to give back to people.

His life always revolved around the idea of being happy with who you are. He said that even from a young age, he knew he was an introvert, but it translated into his love for working with wires and parts to make them do something cool. He was perfectly content in his own skin. As an introvert and secret nerd, I was particularly moved by this message. Loving myself for who I am is something I have long struggled with, yet beside me was a man with one of the most unique personalities I’ve ever seen who wasn’t afraid to be himself.

Wozniak taught me a lot that afternoon, but it wasn’t about computers. It was about embracing who I am and letting that drive my passion in life.

These are the kind of life lessons that students need to hear, and it’s people like Wozniak who are able to teach them. I would go as far to argue that this is what makes Wozniak one of the most underrated influential people in the United States. More people need to take a page out of his book.

*Originally published in The Storm Lake Times.

*Photo credit: The Storm Lake Times