"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" (also called "The Last Lecture") was a lecture given by Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor Randy Pausch on September 18, 2007, that received widespread media coverage, and was the basis for The Last Lecture, a New York Times best-selling book co-authored with Wall Street Journal reporter Jeffrey Zaslow. Pausch had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in September 2006. On September 19, 2006, Pausch underwent a pancreaticoduodenectomy to remove the malignant tumor from his pancreas. In August 2007, doctors discovered that the cancer had recurred. Pausch was given a terminal diagnosis and told to expect that three to six months of good health remained.
The lecture was upbeat and humorous, alternating between wisecracks, insights on computer science and engineering education, advice on building multi-disciplinary collaborations, working together with other people, offering inspirational life lessons, and performing push-ups on stage. Pausch commented on the irony that the "Last Lecture" series had recently been renamed "Journeys": "I thought, damn, I finally nailed the venue and they renamed it."Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press (July 25, 2008). "Prof whose 'last lecture' became a sensation dies," The Dallas Morning News After Pausch finished his lecture, Steve Seabolt, on behalf of Electronic Arts, which was collaborating with CMU in the development of Alice 3.0, pledged to honor Pausch by creating a memorial scholarship for women in computer science, in recognition of Pausch's support and mentoring of women in CS and engineering.
Professor Pausch's "Last Lecture" has received attention and recognition both from American media and news sources worldwide. The video of the speech became an internet sensation, viewed over a million times within its first month on social networking sites such as YouTube, Google video, MySpace, and Facebook. Randy Pausch gave an abridged version of his speech on The Oprah Winfrey Show in October 2007. On April 9, 2008, the ABC network aired an hour-long Diane Sawyer feature on Pausch entitled "The Last Lecture: A Love Story For Your Life". Four days after his death from pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008, ABC aired a tribute to Pausch, remembering his life and his famous lecture.
Background
Previous lectures Pausch was known for some previous lectures. He had been associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Virginia's School of Engineering and Applied Science in 1997 and 1998, and also worked for The Walt Disney Company as an imagineer and for Electronic Arts. At the University of Virginia, he gave a lecture on the importance of making technology more user friendly, in which he made his point by showing a VCR (video cassette recorder) that was hard to program and then smashing it with a sledgehammer. He was also known for a lecture on time management which he delivered in 1998 at the University of Virginia, and again in 2007.
"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" was the first lecture of the nine part "Journeys" series presented by Carnegie Mellon, which included speakers Raj Reddy, Jay Apt, and Jared Cohon, the university president at the time. The lecture series focused on university staff members' professional journeys and the decisions and challenges they faced.
Terminal cancer Pausch was a pancreatic cancer patient when he gave the lecture. In an interview, Pausch stated that he had felt bloated, and discovered that he had a cancerous tumor when doctors performed a CT Scan to check for gallstones. He underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy surgery (the "Whipple procedure") to remove the cancerous tumor, which later proved unsuccessful. The doctors removed his gall bladder, parts of his small intestine, a third of his pancreas, and part of his stomach, and then initiated experimental radiation treatment that could possibly increase his chance of surviving 5 years, to 45 percent. Pausch had radiation treatments from November 2006 to May 2007, and felt healthy after finishing. In July and August, tests at Johns Hopkins University found no cancer. However, in late August, Pausch informed readers of his website that his cancer had returned, saying: "A recent CT scan showed that there are 10 tumors in my liver, and my spleen is also peppered with small tumors. The doctors say that it is one of the most aggressive recurrences they have ever seen." The doctors estimated Pausch had three to six months of good health left.
Pausch based the lecture on the generic "Last Lecture" given by some professors, imagining what one would say and what one would want their legacy to be if they could have one last chance to share their knowledge with the world. Carnegie Mellon had previously had a lecture series titled the "Last Lecture", but had renamed it to "Journeys", and asked staff to talk about their professional experiences. Pausch was offered the lecture around the time when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and had received news that he only had months left to live. Pausch nearly cancelled the lecture due to his disease, but discussed the offer with his wife and decided to accept the opportunity to share his thoughts with the world. Pausch compared it to the final scene of The Natural, in which the character Roy Hobbs overcomes injury and old age to hit one final home run.
Speech inspiration Before Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he had planned to base his lecture on the generic academic "Last Lecture", but he could not think of a subject. He was constantly being e-mailed by speech and event organizers at Carnegie Mellon. Pausch was told in August, a month before the lecture, that a poster must be printed and he needed to choose a subject immediately. The same week, he was told that the prognosis for his pancreatic cancer was terminal. Pausch nearly canceled the lecture. He had to decide whether to make the speech, or to stay home to prepare his family for life without him. His wife Jai requested that Pausch stay at home. She wanted Pausch to be spending more time with their three children, instead of giving a speech at his workplace. Pausch decided on the speech, explaining that his children would remember him through seeing his lecture.
Speech "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" was delivered on September 18, 2007, at Carnegie Mellon University's McConomy Auditorium. Over 450 Carnegie Mellon students, staff members, and friends of Pausch attended the lecture, leaving standing room only. Pausch later commented in an interview, "A couple of hundred people in a room, looking and listening and laughing and applauding – hopefully at the appropriate times – that gives a lot of validation to my kids that a lot of people believe in this, and a lot of people who knew me believe that I did my best to try to live this way." The introduction to the lecture series was given by Indira Nair, the Vice Provost for Education at Carnegie Mellon. Nair explained the series was called "Journeys", in which eight more professors from Carnegie Mellon would share their insights over the years.Indira Nair: "...It's my pleasure to introduce you to the first of our new university lectures titled Journeys – lectures in which members of our community will share with us reflections and insights on their personal and professional journeys."
Pausch was introduced by Steve Seabolt, the Vice President of Worldwide Publishing and Marketing at Electronic Arts, as well as Pausch's close friend and former co-worker.Indira Nair: "So to introduce Randy, his friend Steve Seabolt. Steve?" Seabolt began with a joke about Electronic Arts,Steve Seabolt: "I don’t mean to sound ungracious by correcting you, but given that our PR people are probably watching this on webcast, I'd catch heck if I went home and didn’t say that it was 100 million units for The Sims" and another joke about a bet he and Pausch had made about how many people would attend the lecture, saying that "...depending upon whose version of the story you hear, he either owes me 20 dollars or his new Volkswagen."Steve Seabolt: "I don't see any empty seats anywhere, which is a good thing, which means I just won a bet from Randy as a matter of fact. Depending upon whose version of the story you hear, he either owes me 20 dollars or his new Volkswagen." Seabolt next talked about Pausch's academic achievements and previous career with the University of Virginia and Electronic Arts.Steve Seabolt: "It’s a pleasure to be here, thank you very much. I’m going to start by covering Randy's academic credentials...So he spent a summer in residence at EA, and I was his primary contact point. We were in my view the odd couple." Seabolt concluded his introduction by describing Pausch, saying that "Randy's dedication to making the world a better place is self evident to anyone who has crossed paths with him."Steve Seabolt: "Randy's dedication to making the world a better place is self evident to anyone who has crossed paths with him." He described how his accomplishments had affected others, as well as his wife and three children.Steve Seabolt: "For those of you who know Randy, Randy brings a particular zest for life and humor, even while facing death. To Randy, this is simply another adventure." Seabolt then turned the speech over to Pausch, who was greeted with a standing ovation.
As Pausch walked on, he tried to stop the applause and get the audience to sit down, and begin the speech by commenting "make me earn it",Randy Pausch: "Make me earn it." to which one member of the audience responded "you did". He then commented on the irony of his "last lecture" in a series that used to be the "Last Lecture" series, but was renamed "Journeys": "It's wonderful to be here. What Indira didn’t tell you is that this lecture series used to be called the 'Last Lecture'. If you had one last lecture to give before you died, what would it be? I thought, damn, I finally nailed the venue and they renamed it."Randy Pausch: "It's wonderful to be here. What Indira didn’t tell you is that this lecture series used to be called the Last Lecture. If you had one last lecture to give before you died, what would it be? I thought, damn, I finally nailed the venue and they renamed it."
Pausch explained having pancreatic cancer and only having 3 to 6 months to live, but joked that he was in the best shape of his life (and "better than most of you [the audience]"), proceeding to do a series of push-ups on stage while speaking.Randy Pausch: "In fact, I am in better shape than most of you. [Pausch gets on the ground and starts doing push-ups]" Pausch said what he would not cover in the lecture, which included his family and children, religion, spirituality, and his terminal cancer or any other cancer.Randy Pausch: "All right, so what we're not talking about today, we are not talking about cancer, because I spent a lot of time talking about that and I’m really not interested...And we’re not going to talk about things that are even more important than achieving your childhood dreams. We’re not going to talk about my wife, we’re not talking about my kids. Because I’m good, but I’m not good enough to talk about that without tearing up. So, we’re just going to take that off the table. That’s much more important. And we’re not going to talk about spirituality and religion..."
Pausch's childhood dreams