Friday, July 25, 2008

The Last Lecture

Even though the years pass, we always have ties to our alma mater. Randy Pausch arrived at Carnegie Mellon University just after I graduated. I never knew him, but many of my friends and mentors did.

My best friend and the fellow who gave me away at my wedding was sitting in one of the front rows. Indira Nair--the women who introduced Randy in the Last Lecture--was the head of my double-major department and a good friend and guide. Before he became ill, Randy worked with Jim Roberts, my beloved mentor who taught me to teach and so many other things besides. And when Randy left CMU, he moved his family to a town not a half hour from me where I go from time to time.

Randy Pausch, like many professors at Carnegie Mellon, was a brilliant man. From all accounts and from all I can see, he was the kind of professor the students most loved: smart, knowledgable, but also interesting and animated, a fun man to learn from because he loved to teach. Unlike many other professors who guided and molded us, Randy left behind a video, a book, and his fame.

Randy Pausch died today. He was 47.

If only we could all live our dreams like he lived his.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Faten stopped by and shared this blog thru a post on the MUIB blog and I wanted to stop by for a visit.

Love this blogs concept!

Love this post as well. I cannot even think about "The Last Lecture" without feeling a sense of awe, wonder and now a sense of loss in this world.

Thanks so much for sharing!

~Jenn

Karen Fisher-Alaniz said...

And did you see the story on his life this morning on "Sunday Morning" on CBS? It was really good. I hadn't heard of him before. But what a life! ~Karen

Anonymous said...

Dej, we can.

RedWritingHood said...

I loved his video and book. He has changed so many lives... I love that he kept the focus on changing his kids' lives more than changing the life of someone like me... it made him even more amazing.