Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

This lecture was posted to YouTube last year and was quite the sensation then. Now, because Prof. Randy Pausch has published an accompanying book, the video has surfaced again.

It's known informally as "The Last Lecture" — and in this case, it's almost literal. Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006. In August last year, his doctors told him his situation was terminal and estimated six more months of good health. Since then, he's been fighting a battle against time.

A devoted husband and father of three young children, he has said he wanted to focus on making the most of what's left of his life by focusing on his wife and his kids. Meanwhile, because of an outpouring of public interest and support, he has chronicled his progress.

I sometimes have to wonder how it is that fate often steals away the good while they have so much potential, and how it is that those people are able to burn more brightly when life slips away from them.

In any case, here's the video.