Morrie brings a tape recorder so he can remember his talks with Morrie. But there's another reason, too: He wants to hold onto someone that he knows won't be around much longer.
When he can't be with Morrie anymore he wants to remember his optimism.
Morrie brings up the topic of culture again. He talks about how we're trained to only think about immediate worldly things, like buying houses and having a career.
He also points out that everyone needs a teacher to help them see what really matters—you know, like Morrie is doing for Mitch.
On the flight home, Mitch writes down a list of topics that he wants to ask Mitch about.
Now we flashback to Mitch's senior year, when Morrie encourages Mitch to write an honors thesis. Pushed to find a topic that fascinates him, Mitch chooses to write about why sports has become such a huge deal for Americans.
Morrie reads the paper and makes a comment about his work being so good that he should come back for grad school.
Mitch thinks for a second that it may be a good idea, since he's starting to become nostalgic about leaving college, but then he laughs it off.