Randy Pausch Last Lecture

A friend sent me an email to watch the show Primetime recently because Randy Pausch's Last Lecture was to be discussed. I had not heard of this lecture though it had apparently been making the rounds. My husband and I watched the Primetime show and then watched the actual lecture online a few days later.

The video is a little over an hour long. Randy Pausch is a professor at Carnegie Mellon and here is the synopsis they give for the video:
Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. For more, visit www.cmu.edu/randyslecture."Journeys" are special University Lectures in which Carnegie Mellon faculty members share their reflections on their journeys -- the everyday actions, decisions, challenges and joys that make a life.

While the lecture is very good, my husband and I were a little disappointed. Maybe we are lucky in that many of those lessons we do already so we were hoping to learn a new nugget. We think about living now rather than living for the nebulous future more and trying to find that right balance.

The best part for me was I got to show my 9 year old son two parts of the video that reinforced what I tell him all the time. I think sometimes it's good to hear it from a different place. Makes it seem less like your parent is pulling it from their arse. The first one was the assistant coach's comment that when people give you constructive criticism it is because they care. I asked him what he thought of the story/lesson and he said back to me what I tell him about that. And then he drew in another comment I had made about three months ago to him. I had asked him what he thought the antonym of love was and he said hate. I then told him it was apathy and that hate required caring. He remembered that and pulled that into the conversation as well.

The second part was his synopsis on working with people. I was laughing because after my son looked at that list, he asked me for the definition of earnest, and then he started laughing that it was the stuff I tell him all the time. (My mottos to my children are the ones in parens)
1. Tell the truth (don't lie)
2. Be earnest (work hard and keep trying)
3. Apologize when you screw up (accept responsibility for your actions)
4. Focus on other people, not yourself (have a good heart and try to help and think of others and not be purely selfish)

The part of the lecture that makes me cry is at the end when he wheels out the birthday cake. Hi wife Jai said what she whispered to him when she appeared on the Primetime show. At one moment during the hug she tells him "Please don't die." You can see him trying to hold it together. And like he said at the beginning, talking about his wife and kids is too hard. I loved how he said that he wasn't sad for himself on his loss of his family but more the loss of a "dad" for his children. I totally understand that.

Check out the lecture if you can.

Sphere: Related Content