I am taking a break from the normal simulation topic this week to mention a significant current event – the passing of Dr. Randy Pausch. Dr. Pausch was a tenured professor at Carnegie Mellon University who has become widely known for not only his life’s work, but also his recent activities.
What is significant is not the event of his death, but rather the celebration of his life. He was a very admirable person and he “retired” in a particularly admirable way. When diagnosed with an incurable and rather fast acting cancer, he chose to spend much of his final time sharing life lessons that he had learned and did so in a very upbeat and inspiring manner.
Among other things Dr. Pausch gave a very insightful, entertaining, and inspiring talk entitled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” in which he talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.
I was personally very moved by this lecture; enough so that I am using this blog post to urge you to listen to it. It is just over an hour long and I encourage you to set aside the time to listen clear to the end, because even those last minutes are enlightening. This is not new – it was originally presented in September 2007 and has been viewed an estimated ten million times. If you haven’t watched it yet, please do.
And don’t watch alone… if you have a teen or college student in your life invite them to watch with you – I think you will both find this hour to be very well spent.
You can find it at Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.
Dave Sturrock
VP Products – Simio LLC