The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

This is one of the lectures in a lecture series called Journeys. Under this series, the professors were asked to envisage their own death and give a lecture considering it to be their last one.

Unfortunately, for Randy Pausch, it was actually his last lecture as he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and doctors prognosis said a good life of 3 to 6 months. However the things that the energetic professor said in that lecture, (written in a book) are going to stay with the audiences for a long time.

Even in the last phase of the terminal illness Professor Pausch showed remarkable clarity of thought and astuteness in preparing his lecture. He titled his talk “Really achieving your childhood dreams”.  Through the presentation he opened his life as a case study and drove home the importance of having dreams, pursuing them irrespective of the ultimate result and also enabling other people achieving their childhood dreams.

I would like to note here some personal takeaways from the book as a tribute to the man. I would consciously refrain from praising the professor because no amount of words can really make justice to his composure, craftsmanship and professionalism with which he delivered the last lecture. 

• First and most striking things was that time is a finite thing, and some day we may realize that we have it lesser than we thought. This lesson seems even more striking when someone in the last stage of a terminal illness tells you this. Act on your desires before it’s too late.   
• Next one is about the importance of hard coaches: This one is my personal favourite as being a cricketer at a junior level I have had some very tough coaches. These tough teachers are important in life as they make us stretch. They make us realize that when we think we have reached a limit of our energies, and still try, then those limits at times do expand.
• Another fascinating concept that he introduced during the talk was called “Head Fake”, it refers to a very important aspect of learning through social interaction that we have with our surroundings. For example, when a kid goes for cricket or football coaching, apart from the skills of cover driving a ball or giving clever passes he learns importance of being a part of team, giving full energies to a common objective etc.
•  Through the examples of his teaching practice and research activities he not only brought out but also emphasised on the importance that collaborative effort has in any remarkable breakthrough. He showed how being receptive to every source of information or insight can multiply the knowledge and insight of the recipient.
• Through his commitment to the well being of his family he shows immaculate sense of duty and equally good execution of the same by planning ant rational analysis of one’s situation.

Apart from these, there are so many things that cross a reader’s mind while reading this book. Be it a romantic gesture of  Professor Pausch to make the entire audience sing “Happy birthday” to his wife, or his child like obsession for the soft toys and characters of the cartoon series, or his infectious curiosity and drive for information, everything about him was so thought provoking and exciting. Indeed that is a hallmark of great teachers, perhaps.