The Last Lecture: The Wonderful Life of Randy Pausch

In 10th grade, our teacher emailed us a video. She told us that we were to watch it once at home, and the following day at school, she would show it to us again before asking us a series of questions based on it. I was curious as to what exactly I would be watching: perhaps it was a re-enactment of a scene from As You Like It (the play we were studying at the time), or a scene from an iconic movie. However, to my surprise, it was a clip from an old episode of Oprah, where a man named Randy Pausch reprised a lecture he had given earlier at Carnegie Mellon University dubbed 'The Last Lecture'.

Mr. Pausch had been fighting a losing battle with pancreatic cancer for a while, and he knew his time on Earth was coming to an end. However, he wanted to impart his students with some lessons he'd learnt throughout his life, and so, he created a lecture called 'Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams' and performed it at Carnegie Mellon University's McConomy Auditorium. In it, he talked about his life and how he'd carried on achieving his childhood dreams, and how he faced the reality that he was going to die. However, what was unique was the nature of the lecture - it was not morose or sad...instead, it was full of energy, and you could clearly see the passion this man had for both teaching and life itself. The version he performed on Oprah was a heavily condensed version of the original lecture, but I found it awe-inspiring nonetheless. Over the past six years, I found myself going back and watching the talk now and then, but I never thought more of it beyond that small video. However, that changed in 2019.

The first half of 2019 was far from ideal. College was much rougher than usual, and I wasn't in the best mental headspace to deal with all the stress that came with it. When the semester break rolled around, I was ecstatic to get away and come back home to relax and recharge for two months. About one week into the vacation, I happened to remember the Oprah clip, and so, I went looking for it on the internet, when I saw that there was a book written by Mr. Pausch himself titled 'The Last Lecture'. Curious, I looked a little deeper and found that the book contained the essence of the original lecture he had given at Carnegie Mellon. I knew that videos of the lecture were on YouTube, but I never bothered to watch them. However - reading about it would be different. I instantly purchased the book, and before long, I had finished reading it - and it changed the way I looked at life.

Randy Pausch talks about a great variety of things in the book: his childhood, his dreams, the lessons he learnt both as a kid and as a professor at Carnegie Mellon, and about his life experiences and how they shaped him. The book has a beautiful way of drawing you into his life's story, and as you go from page to page, the shocking realization that this cheerful and optimistic book was written by a man who has effectively been sentenced to death hits you like a ton of bricks. Yet, despite that, he strives to be the very best version of himself he can be.

One of the lessons I found particularly endearing was when he spoke about how, while his sister was cautioning her children to not get his new car dirty, behind her, he opened a can of soda and emptied it into the back seat. It made me laugh when I saw this in the video, and it made me chuckle when I read it. What stuck with me though, is the words on the page:

A car, even a pristine gem like a new convertible, is just a thing.

It's such a simple message, isn't it? Later in the book, as it turned out, one of the kids threw up in the back seat, and Randy expressed his delight that he had ensured that he didn't make him feel guilty for something that he had no way of controlling, which, to me, was just perfect. Randy talks about how he had to overcome numerous obstacles in his path, and so, it's no surprise that one of the book's major themes is how to deal with roadblocks on your way to success. He described them as 'brick walls' - something that's there to remind us how badly we want something. It was a simple description, bereft of any hyperbole - and I loved it. It perfectly captured the essence of what it feels like to push your weight against a seemingly insurmountable wall. Sometimes, you're going to feel like giving up for one reason or the other, but every time you look at the wall, you're reminded of what's on the other side, and whatever that is for you is going to be worth all the pain you're going through right now.

There are honestly so many tidbits from the book that I have carried forward in my life - things like how he talks about being grateful, or how important making a proper apology is, or even how cliches are sometimes important to us. These are all little lessons that are sure to help me in some form or the other. However, make no mistake - this is not a book that is merely full of one liners or small tidbits - at the end of the day, 'The Last Lecture' still tells a complete story; the story of a man who had everything taken from him in the blink of an eye - but smiled and chose to go into that good night on his terms, and no one else's.

It's a fantastic read that can tell you a thing or two about life and how to live. The impact that this book has had on me is monumental, and I cannot recommend it more. For anyone going through a hard time right now, Randy Pausch might give you something to think about. In case you can't read the book, the original lecture is available here.

If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.

Rest in peace, Randy. Thank you.