CityView Magazine

The Last Lecture
by Randy Pausch
Reviewed by Hannah Slaughter

As I thought of going back to school, I couldn’t help but pick up the bestseller The Last Lecture. Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon professor, caused a You Tube sensation when he was invited to give a “Last Lecture” after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Given before an audience of 400 last September, the lecture entitled “Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” was done as a sort of message in a bottle for his 3 children whom he would not see grow up. Released in April, the book, based on the lecture, is bittersweet mixing stories from Pausch’s life with the life lessons he wants to leave behind. In it, Pausch expands on the lecture telling entertaining and often humorous stories about himself and his beliefs on how to live life to the fullest. Inspiring and uplifting, after reading it any adult will be longing for fairground stuffed animals and a box of crayons. Nerds like myself will appreciate the leadership lessons from Captain Kirk. Pouring soda in the backseat of a brand new convertible becomes a lesson for his niece and nephew that people are more important than things. And perhaps my favorite illustration that will interest all the business minds out there is how a $10 salt and pepper shaker turned into a $100,000 mission of hope for hundreds of immigrant students from Maryland. Student or not, we all need this lecture. I encourage you to read it, study it and then buy a copy for your friends.