In September 2007, college professor Randy Pausch made a presentation at Carnegie Mellon University as part of a university lecture series. Pausch, who was dying of cancer, decided to give a presentation called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams", which also became known as "The Last Lecture".
The topics covered are ones that most, if not all, people think about at some point in their lives. There is a lot of discussion and introspection around personal passions and career & life goals.
My favorite quotes from the presentation are:
- "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the game."
- "Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls aren't there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show us how badly we want things."
I highly recommend watching "The Last Lecture" on YouTube. The video is a little over 75 minutes long, so, depending on your schedule, you may want to break the viewing experience down into a couple sittings.
Pausch also co-authored a book with Jeffrey Zaslow as a follow-up to this memorable lecture. Feel free to pick up a copy of this book through Amazon Smile (where your purchase also helps donate money to the charity of your choice).