The Last Lecture
A lot of professors give talks titled, “The Last Lecture”. To be able to do so, they have to imagine: What wisdom would they impart to the world if they knew it was their last chance? When Randy Pausch, a Computer Science professor from Carnegie Mellon University, was asked to give such a lecture, he [...]
Sahil Khan
07.08.2008
Arts & Culture, Books
A lot of professors give talks titled, “The Last Lecture”. To be able to do so, they have to imagine: What wisdom would they impart to the world if they knew it was their last chance?
When Randy Pausch, a Computer Science professor from Carnegie Mellon University, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The lecture titled, “Really Achieving your Childhood Dreams” was delivered to a stage audience of around 400 people and viewed by millions on the Internet through YouTube.
Written with Jeffrey Zaslow, the book is a narrative of how Randy, in his 47 years of life went on to achieve almost all of his childhood dreams. His dictum of “Brick walls are there to make us overcome obstacles” was the guiding light of the way he lived his life and overcame a number of hurdles between him and his dreams.
His childhood dreams of being a Disney Imagineer, meeting Captain Kirk, experiencing weightlessness and even writing an article in The World Book Encyclopedia were all achieved by his sheer passion, positive energy and of course luck. The book also touches upon how things worked for him, how people made a difference to his life and how important it is to face hurdles to realize the importance of our dreams.
The book concludes by inspiring readers to look ahead and to make the most of their lives. It also elaborates that sometimes even small moments and recognitions matter a great deal. Randy Pausch wraps up the book by explaining that the “head fake” of his last lecture was the fact that it was really delivered for his kids, who may have scanty memories of him as they grow up.
I would rate it as a “must read” for it’s intelligent, humorous and no nonsense language.
Note: Randy Pausch died on July 25, 2008 and has been survived by his wife and three kids.
Ankur Mehrotra
[ratings]
[image courtesy: http://flickr.com/photos/inju/2493101038/sizes/m/]
