PDF Summary:The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch
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1-Page PDF Summary of The Last Lecture
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, is a distillation of his life lessons and experiences. Written with reporter Jeffrey Zaslow, the best-selling book is an expanded version of a “Last Lecture” Pausch gave in 2007, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
The “Last Lecture” series was a tradition in which professors presented their philosophy of life, as if it were their last chance to share what was important to them. It truly was a last chance for Pausch, who had only months to live. His book and lecture, which went viral and has been viewed by millions, are about living your dreams.
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Disney ‘Imagineer’
Pausch made a memorable childhood trip to Disneyland in 1969 when he was eight. As his interest in science and engineering developed, he dreamed of designing Disney rides and attractions. Years later, after receiving a sabbatical for virtual reality research, he talked Disney into accepting him for six months to work on a secret Aladdin attraction involving a magic carpet ride.
He had some trouble getting a Carnegie Mellon dean to approve such an unconventional study request, but he persisted and his experience as an “Imagineer” was a highlight of his life. He wore his Disney Imagineer’s shirt when he delivered his Last Lecture.
Other Life Lessons
Besides discussing the importance of pursuing your childhood dreams, Pausch used his Last Lecture to recount other lessons he’d learned or taught throughout his life, including:
The Value of Honest Feedback: Pausch could be arrogant and tactless, but on one occasion, a mentor put him in his place. While Pausch was an undergraduate at Brown University, the faculty member told him it was a shame that people found him arrogant because it would hold him back in the future. Pausch concluded that he’d just been tactfully told he was a jerk. He came to appreciate those in his life who gave him honest feedback and he tried to do the same for his students.
People Over Things: Before he was married, Pausch enjoyed being an uncle to his sister’s two children. Once, when the kids were seven and nine, he picked them up in his new convertible. As they climbed in, their mother warned them not to get it dirty. Hearing this, Pausch opened a can of soda and calmly poured it onto the cloth-covered back seats. His message was that a car is just a possession—and people are more important than things. Later that weekend, when his nephew got the flu and threw up on the car seat, Pausch was glad he’d delivered that message.
Brick Walls Are Opportunities: Pausch learned to overcome obstacles in his academic career and came to believe that when you run into brick walls, they’re an opportunity for you to demonstrate how badly you want something.
But at age 37, he encountered one of his most formidable challenges—winning over the woman who eventually became his wife. He met Jai at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, when he was invited to give a lecture. She was a graduate student there in comparative literature. They hit it off, but when he asked her to move to Pittsburgh, she refused him multiple times. At one point, she told him she didn’t love him. Distraught, he called his parents for advice and they told him to be patient and respectful of her feelings. Eventually, Jai realized she loved him and moved to Pittsburgh, where they were married. He’d used the brick wall of her resistance demonstrate how much he wanted a life with her.
Be a Tigger, Not an Eeyore: Pausch believed everyone has a choice in life to be like one of two Winnie-the-Pooh characters: you can be like fun-loving, exuberant Tigger or like gloomy Eeyore. Throughout his life, Pausch looked for the fun in everything—he didn’t see any benefit to being a sad Eeyore. After his cancer diagnosis, his Tigger persona helped him live his last days to the fullest.
Take the risk: When you’ve failed, you’ve learned something about how to succeed in the future. In fact, failing is such an integral part of success that Pausch liked to give an award for the most spectacular failure to student teams who took big creative risks and failed. He dubbed it the “First Penguin Award”—the name comes from the way one penguin in a flock always jumps into the water ahead of the others, taking the biggest risk of being eaten by predators.
Work hard: Although people often want to avoid work, there’s no benefit to taking a shortcut. The more you work, the more you learn about your subject or pursuit and the bigger the eventual reward. Work is like interest on your savings—it compounds. When Pausch received tenure earlier than is typical, colleagues wanted to know how he’d done it. In reply, he invited them to call him at 10 p.m. at his office on any Friday night—in other words, he worked hard for it.
Show gratitude: When people give you their time and attention, write them a thank-you note. You’ll stand out because thank-you notes are rare, which may benefit you in the future. But more importantly, showing gratitude is a sign of character. If you can’t adequately pay someone back for a kindness, pay it forward. Pausch made a point of showing gratitude in both large and small ways. For instance, he sent cookies to colleagues who reviewed journal articles for him. Also, after receiving tenure, Pausch thanked his research team for their contribution to his success by taking them on a week-long trip to Disney World.
Be both optimistic and realistic: Well-meaning friends sometimes tell cancer patients to be optimistic or their treatments will fail. As a result, when they have setbacks or bad days, patients feel guilty for not being positive enough. However, optimism must be coupled with realism. Pausch believed he could be realistic about his condition, but also be optimistic that he could do things to improve how he felt and continue to find joy in daily life.
The Truth About Dreams
Pausch felt it was important not to impose his own dreams on his children, but to let them discover their own paths. As a professor, he’d counseled many students who had chosen majors that pleased their parents and ended up being miserable. His message was: be what you want to be. Pursue your own dreams and do what brings you joy, regardless of anyone’s expectations.
Achieving your dreams, he said, isn’t so much about chasing them as about living your life in the right way. If you do that, “your dreams will come to you.”
Randy Pausch died on July 25, 2008, at age 47.
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