Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams Randy Pausch Carnegie Mellon University Sept 18, 2007

The elephant in the room…

Im not in denial… And Im in good health now

n Cancer n Things more important than childhood dreams: my wife and kids n Spirituality & Religion ä My deathbed conversion What were not talking about

Todays Talk n My childhood dreams n Enabling the dreams of others n Lessons learned: how you can achieve your dreams or enable the dreams of others

My Childhood Dreams

n Being in zero gravity n Playing in the NFL n Authoring an article in the World Book encyclopedia n Being Captain Kirk n Winning stuffed animals n Being a Disney Imagineer

Being in zero gravity

The vomit comet

Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things

Football n Dream: play in the NFL n Coach Graham ä practice with no football ä fundamentals ä him riding me all practice n Coach Setliff ä Power of enthusiasm n To this day, I am most comfortable on a football field

I Never Made it to the NFL n But football got me where I am today n Fundamentals & Hard Work n Experience is what you get when you didnt get what you wanted n Most of what we learn, we learn indirectly (or by head fake)

Being an author in the World Book Encyclopedia

Being like Captain Kirk Meeting

Dream n Being Captain Kirk

Its cool to meet your boyhood idol.

Winning Stuffed Animals

I can hear the cynics…

Being an Imagineer

Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things

1991: VR on Five Dollars a Day CHI 91, and Tom Furness asks a question…

Jon Snoddy n I had to brief the Secretary of Defense n Disneys Aladdin project n Lunch with Jon… n But you're in the business of telling stuff, and we're in the business of keeping secrets n He taught me: wait, and people will surprise you.

Our Villain; but alls well that ends well

Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things

Aladdin

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Working on Aladdin VR n a once in five careers opportunity n Forever changed me ä real people, real HCI issues ä how to put engineers & artists together

Really being an Imagineer… and I said no.

Virtual Jungle Cruise

Enabling the Childhood Dreams of Others … or, Boy, am I glad I became a professor!

Building Virtual Worlds n 50 students from art, design, drama, and CS n Randomly chosen teams, change per project n Two weeks to design, implement, and test n Five projects during the semester

The First Year n Listed in Five Departments (I love CMU!) n Content: Anything you want ä No shooting violence ä No pornography n They blew me away w/first assignment n I called Andy van Dam n The first show ä In McConomy for its A/V ä President Cohons reaction

Campus-wide Exhibition

BVW was a pioneering course n And as they say…

Don Marinelli (Drama) Randy Pausch (CS) The Dream Fulfillment Factory

Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) n Artists + Technologists working in small teams to make things n 2 year professional degree: Masters of Entertainment Technology n Two kindred spirits: try things a new way; were both a little uncomfortable in academia n CMU is the only place I know where this could happen.

Right Brain / Left Brain

Don & I shared an office for six years

Co-Director Credit for the ETCs Success

The ETC is to masters degrees as Cirque Du Soleil is to circus

ETC Curriculum: First Draft Project Course First Year Fall Optional Internship First Year Spring Second Year Fall Second Year Spring Project Course

ETC Curriculum The Visual Story Improvisational Acting Intro to Entertainment Technology Building Virtual Worlds ETC Interdisciplinary Project Course II Elective First Year Fall Optional Internship First Year Spring ETC Interdisciplinary Project Course III Elective ETC Interdisciplinary Project Course IV Elective Second Year Fall Second Year Spring

Key to the ETCs Success: Freedom n No deans to report to n License to Break the mold n Project-based curriculum n Intense, fun student experience n Field trips!

Edutainment n Developed with FDNY n Networked simulation to train 1 st responders to chemical spills and terrorist attacks

Companies guaranteed hiring our students Don has taken the ETC global: Australia, Korea, Singapore

Keys to the ETCs Success: Focus on People and Learning to work in Groups

Alice The Infinitely Scalable Dream Factory And I guess this makes me the mad hatter…

Alice n Novel way to teach Computer Programming n Kids make movies and games; the head fake is that they are learning to program n Over 1 million downloads, 8 textbooks, 10% of US colleges using right now

Alice is my Professional Legacy n Helping millions of kids have fun while learning something hard n v3.0 will release in 2008, in Java, with characters from the best- selling PC game in history: The Sims n Cant mention everyone, but… ä Dennis Cosgrove is building it ä Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater are developing the pedagogy ä Caitlin Kelleher is going to hit the home run with middle schoolers

Lessons Learned

The Roles of Parents, Mentors, and Students

My Dad, age 80

My Mom n The theory qualifier n My son, the doctor…

Other people who help us n Teachers n Mentors n Friends n Colleagues

Andy van Dam n Mythical creature n Dutch uncle-d me my sophomore year n Made me go to graduate school

My Bosses: Respect authority while questioning it

We learn from our students n The best head fake of all time – Caitlins idea about storytelling in Alice

More Lessons Learned

President Cohons Advice n Tell them about having FUN n Like a fish giving a talk about the importance of water

Decide if youre Tigger or Eeyore

Never Lose the Child-like Wonder

Help others Jessica Hodgins: The best gift ever Denny Proffitt: Forgotten more than Ill ever know MK Haley: Limit case of my large family theory Its kind of fun to do the impossible Professor boy

Loyalty is a two-way street

Never Give Up n Brown University – didnt get in. n Carnegie Mellon for Graduate School – didnt get in. ä Meeting with Nico

How to Get People to Help You n You cant get there alone, and I believe in Karma n Tell the truth n Be earnest n Apologize when you screw up n Focus on others, not yourself (an example…)

Brick walls let us show our dedication

Dont bail; the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap

Get a feedback loop; and listen to it!

Show Gratitude ETC admissions… How can you do this?

Dont complain; just work harder.

Important Advice n Be good at something: it makes you valuable n Work hard … whats your secret? n Find the best in everybody; no matter how you have to wait for them to show it n Be prepared: luck is where preparation meets opportunity

Todays Talk n My childhood dreams n Enabling the dreams of others n Lessons learned: how you can achieve your dreams or enable the dreams of others

How to achieve your dreams n Have you figured out the head fake?

How to achieve your dreams Have you figured out the head fake? How to lead your life

Have you figured out the second head fake?

This talk wasnt for you guys. It was for Dylan, Logan, and Chloe.

Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams Randy Pausch Carnegie Mellon University Sept 18, 2007