Learning is not a spectator sport

If you’d like to share a memory of Joel, please head over to http://apex.oracle.com/joel

Joel’s kind-heartedness can best be seen from his own words. The below is from his keynote at the APEX@Home event last year, or you can listen to it here

I have one additional plea to you. This is no longer Oracle talking, this is me personally.

This last trip I took before everything shutdown was to Oracle headquarters in California, and on March 6 I had a meeting with a customer. So I did some research on them and found that they were a non-religious international service organization, and their motto is “Service above Self”

And those words completely resonated with me because ultimately it is the purpose of my life; to elevate and serve others. I told them that it was my honour to be able to meet them and talk to them, as their purpose is so completely consistent with my calling. On my flight home that is what repeated in my head over and over again. Service above Self

Those who know me personally know that I have an unwavering faith in God. It’s what defines me as a person, and I don’t try to conceal that fact. I attempt to live my faith and I fail in so many ways, every day. Miserably. But I still try to live it. It’s with my faith that I view every person as having infinite value. All of those among us; those who you don’t know … Infinite Value.

With this global pandemic, I’ve witnessed countless people in the APEX community helping others in big and small ways, and all of these things have mattered. You don’t have to do something big or global to have a big impact on someone’s life.

Eventually all of us are going to be delivered from this pandemic, and we’ll have an opportunity to retreat once again to our nice comfortable lives. But there is going to continue to be countless among us that need our help. Its endless – the oppressed, the infirmed, the mentally ill, the imprisoned, those living in abject poverty.

Additionally, there is going to be a ton of people who have been affected by this pandemic, who not only have they lost their jobs; their livelihoods have been wiped out. Gone. You’ll know some of these people. Businesses closed or bankrupt. And so it’s my hope that this event that has happened to all of us, I hope that it has awakened in our community that you possess an amazing skill, and with the use of your god given talents you can have a profound impact on people’s lives. Is the US, IT people are considered essential workers and for good reason. You are essential. Let that sink in.

So is the APEX community simply a technical community that likes to talk about and use a piece of computer software? Or is it a collection of empowered people, empowered amazing human beings, who can collectively improve others’ lives? I think it’s the latter. The APEX community is unique within Oracle, and I would say unique within the industry and I have never seen anything like it.

I am simply grateful to be a part of it and you should be too.

– Joel Kallman,
APEX@Home, April 2020

The world’s a lesser place with Joel not in it.