THE LAST LECTURE Life Narrative of Randy Pausch Really Achieving your Childhood Dreams

Introduction  Professor at CMU, Human-Computer Interaction and Design.  Worked with Walt Disney Imagineering.  3-D Virtual Reality expert.  Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at age of 47.  Prognosis: 3-6 months.  The Last Lecture Series at CMU: “Journeys”.  “If you had one last lecture to give before you died, what would it be?”

An Injured Lion Still Wants to Roar.  “Under the ruse of giving an academic lecture, I was trying to put myself in a bottle that would one day wash up on the beach for my children. I were a painter, I would have painted for them. If I were a musician, I would have composed music. But I am a lecturer. So I lectured.”  “I had come to see it as the last moment of my career, as a way to say goodbye to my work-family.”  “We can't change the cards we're dealt, just how we play the hand.”

Contents of the Talk  His own childhood dreams and how he achieved them.  Enabling others to achieve their dreams.  Lessons learned.

My Childhood Dreams  Being in zero gravity.  Playing in the National Football League.  Authoring an article in the World Book encyclopedia.  Being Captain Kirk.  Winning stuffed animals.  Being a Disney Imagineer.

Being in Zero Gravity

Playing in the National Football League  “Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.”  Lesson learnt: “When you’re screwing up and nobody’s saying anything to you anymore, that means they gave up.”

Authoring an article in the World Book Encyclopedia.  “But sometimes when I am in library with the kids, I still can’t resist looking under “V”(Virtual Reality) and letting them have a look. Their dad made it.”

Being like Meeting Captain Kirk  “And it’s really cool to meet your boyhood idol, but it’s even cooler when he comes to you to see what cool stuff you’re doing in your lab.”  Leadership lesson.

Winning Stuffed Animals

Being a Disney Imagineer  “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”  “No one is pure evil. Find the best in everybody. Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you.”- Jon Snoddy

Enabling Others to Achieve Their Dreams  Graduate student- Star Wars  Building Virtual Worlds  “And as you get older, you may find that enabling the dreams of others thing is even more fun.”

Lessons Learned  Dream big  Don’t complain, just work harder  Show gratitude  “Watch what they do, not what they say”  Loyalty is a two way street  Never give up  Share  Tell truth  Being earnest  Apologize when you screw up  Focus on other people, and not yourself  When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it.

Tigger or Eeyore?

Head fakes  “It’s not about how to achieve your dreams. It’s about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.”  “The talk’s not for you, it’s for my kids.”

Analysis  Aim: Inspire others  Style: Humor Quoting people who influenced  Talks about parents, friends, mentors and students.  Discusses work life at length.

 Dreams  Role as educator  “The best gift an educator can give is to get somebody to become self reflective.”  Alice- “The best way to teach somebody something is to have them think they’re learning something else.” (Head fakes)  The Last Lecture

Honors  November 19, 2007 – “Dr. Randy Pausch Day”.  Time - World's Top-100 Most Influential People.  Randy received a letter from then President George W. Bush thanking him for his commitment to the Nation's youth.  On February 4, 2009, The Walt Disney Company dedicated a tribute plaque at Walt Disney World near the "Mad Tea Party" attraction with a quote by Randy that reads "Be good at something; It makes you valuable... Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome.“  Randy Pausch endowed scholarship fund at CMU.  Walt Disney Company created the Disney Memorial Pausch Fellowship at CMU.  Raised pedestrian bridge at CMU that connects the Gates Computer Science building and the Purnell Center for the Arts is named after Pausch, symbolizing the way he linked the two disciplines.

PRESENTED BY: GARIMA SADHWI SRINIVAS SRISHTI BHUTANI