Randy Pausch's Last Lecture
Randy Pausch, a professor of Computer Science here at Carnegie Mellon and innovator of many things, gave his last lecture this week. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year and doctors estimate the time he has left in months. It was a very powerful and often hilarious lecture on pursuing childhood dreams and the lessons learned and, if you have a couple hours and a good internet connection, I highly recommend watching it.
It made me think about a lot of things.
About what my life would have been like if I had been able to take a course like Building Virtual Worlds with a professor like Randy Pausch when I was a computer science undergrad. I might have wound up pursuing my then-dream of doing special effects for a movie. Not that I don’t find my current path highly fulfilling, a path that a different professor set me on, but I wonder.
About helping other people live their dreams. I was blessed to have been born into a good family who gave me good educational opportunities. I want to work in education precisely because I want to help shape a world in which children of all backgrounds can go to a good school and come out armed with the skills they need to pursue their dreams.
About my own dad. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it on this blog before, but my dad was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer this past spring. It was quite a shock to all of us, as we are a family of never-smokers with no family history of cancer. All of us kids are grown now, but I still often feel like I barely know my dad. He’s never been particularly forthcoming about personal details and the diagnosis has, if anything, made him even less so. What kind of last lecture would he want to give? I don’t really know.
Chipanglish
CogKnition
Gustatory Circuit
Praying for your father, you and your family.
Some lessons from Randy Pausch’s last lecture that especially moved me:
1. Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.
2. Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
3. Never lose the child-like wonder.
4. If we do something which is pioneering, we will get arrows in the back. But at the end of the day, a whole lot of people will have a whole lot of fun.
5. Be good at something; it makes you valuable.
6. If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, and the dreams will come to you.
Check out the tribute quiz on the lecture at http://www.mystudiyo.com : you can add your own questions at the end of the quiz.
http://www.mystudiyo.com/activity.php?act=558