Jordanporter0909's Blog

Rift Fournier…one word:wow October 27, 2009

Recently, we had a guest speaker visit our class this past Tuesday (Oct. 20^th).  Now, most people in our class say that they dislike guest speakers, but I on the other hand love when guest speakers come by to share what’s on their mind. Although on this particular day, I had no idea I was about to be in the presence of one of the most renowned professors on campus.

Professor Rift Fournier might be one of the most remarkable people I have ever listened to.  Rift seemed to be able to grab everyone’s attention with the first word that came out of his mouth. Like a jolly old grandfather from the movies, he was able to reminisce on all the phenomenal experiences he has went through.

jolly- like a modern santa clause

Rift gave us a brief background story on how he grew up in Nebraska and attended a high school that glorified football and losing a football game was not an option. Rift explained how he loved football and how he was the first freshman to ever play varsity football in his high school’s history. Rift tried to play this detail off like it was no big deal, but being the football fan that I am, I found this a remarkable feat.

Rift’s football career was sadly short lived. His junior year in high school, Rift contracted Polio and now sits in an electric wheel chair. My grandfather unfortunately went through the same ordeal so I somewhat had a feeling of understanding of what he went through.But a man like Rift would never let a wheelchair defeat him from chasing his dreams. All his life, even through his football career, Rift had an undeniable desire to be an artist. With Prof. Fournier handicapped he was finally able to put all his time and dedication into something he always wanted to do; write. Rift loved to write all sorts of things and found that he had the ability to pour his soul onto paper and come up with some truly amazing stories.

Rift said he started his career doing many different jobs all around the country. Freelancing was Rifts specialty. Rift finally was able to take full advantage of his writing when he was hired to write screenplays and scripts for talk shows and television series. From all the things he worked on he seemed particularly fond of a cop show he worked on overseas in Europe. I plan on trying to download some of the episodes for this show and upload them onto this post later.

Rift also worked on NYPD:Blue

During class, when I decided to take notes on all of his accomplishments, Rift, all of the sudden, looked up and shouted “what are you all doing? Quit taking notes and just listen to what I’m saying!” He didn’t want us just sitting their taking notes like a bunch of robots. He wanted us to actually listen to what he was saying and think about what we heard. Rift’s concept of school is truly enlightening and noteworthy. What was most important to me out of everything he said in our class was how he demonstrated how students shouldn’t care about their major so much, but instead students should focus on enjoying school and explore a whole plethora of different classes. In a way, preaching the message of liberal arts.

Rift Fournier is truly a remarkable human being and is capable of carrying on a conversation with anyone who is willing to listen to him. I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to have listened to one of the greatest minds on campus.