Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Dr. Randy Pausch was an exceptionally inspirational professor at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Pausch, who was married to wife Jai and had three children, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006. Around the time of learning that his pancreatic cancer was terminal, Pausch was given the opportunity to deliver a 'last speech/lecture' at CMU. After learning of his serious state, Pausch decided to deliver his last lecture, basically, for his kids. The lecture was entitled Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.
On September 18, 2007, Pausch delivered a moving and inspirational speech that included his childhood goals, how he achieved them, helping others achieve their childhood dreams, and how to be a better person. Pausch spoke of many of his childhood dreams, but one in particular that stood out to me was his dream to play in the NFL. Although he did not make it to the NFL, Pausch learned from playing football as a child thanks to his former Coach Jim Ghrahm. He spoke about how Ghrahm rode him an entire practice. At first, it made him feel bad until another coach pointed out the it was indeed good that Ghrahm was riding him because if he wasn't, that meant that he'd given up on him. Pausch explains that your critics, the ones who point out your mistakes and faults, are the ones telling you they still love you and care. Pausch also learned fundamentals from football. The fundamentals of anything is the foundation.
Pausch taught his students through a concept he called the "head fake." He believed using the head fake, or indirect learning, was the best way to get one to learn because they think they are doing something else but in actuality they are learning while having fun, such as when you send your child out to play football. They may think that they're out to simply learn to play football but they actually learn and gain so much more. They gain the fundamentals-teamwork, sportsmanship, perserverance, and teamwork.
Pausch best put this idea to work through a project called Alice. Alice is a way to teach students computer programming by allowing them to simply have fun making movies and games. Pausch's goal, and legacy, was to enable millions of kids to have fun while learning something hard. The 3.0 version of Alice, due this year, teaches students Java language by writing movies and scripts with characters themed from the popular computer game 'The Sims.' One of Pausch's former students, Caitlin Keller, helps carry on his legacy by bringing Alice to middle schools.
Dr. Randy Pausch had many valuable points in his last lecture, many of which stuck with me and will shine in my life day by day. Pausch spoke of brick walls in our lives-obstacles. Obstacles, brick walls, are not there to stop us but to show how badly we want something. The walls are there to keep out the ones that don't want it badly enough. Brick walls allows us to show our dedication. Don't let them keep you down, never give up.
Watching this video touched me in many ways. Dr. Pausch was a very smart and dedicated man. He wanted to make sure his children learned while enjoying his last lecture-the head fake. His intent was to touch the lives of his children, but in actuality he touched so many more and I am just glad he lived long enough to realize that. I honestly enjoyed the video.


You can view Pausch's Last Lecture here.