Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood ...
Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
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Transcript of Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
Really Achieving Your Childhood
Dreams
Randy PauschCarnegie Mellon University
Sept 18, 2007
The elephant in the room…
I’m not in denial…
And I’m in good health now
Cancer Things more important than childhood
dreams: my wife and kids Spirituality & Religion
My deathbed conversion
What we’re not talking about
Today’s Talk
My childhood dreams Enabling the dreams of others Lessons learned: how you can achieve
your dreams or enable the dreams of others
My Childhood Dreams
My Childhood Dreams
Being in zero gravity Playing in the NFL Authoring an article in the World
Book encyclopedia Being Captain Kirk Winning stuffed animals Being a Disney Imagineer
Being in zero gravity
The “vomit comet”
Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things
Football
Dream: play in the NFL Coach Graham
practice with no football fundamentals him riding me all practice
Coach Setliff Power of enthusiasm
To this day, I am most comfortable on a football field
I Never Made it to the NFL
But football got me where I am today Fundamentals & Hard Work “Experience is what you get when you
didn’t get what you wanted” Most of what we learn, we
learn indirectly (or by “head fake”)
Being an author in theWorld Book Encyclopedia
Being like Captain KirkMeeting
Dream
Being Captain Kirk
It’s cool to meet your boyhood idol.
Winning Stuffed Animals
I can hear the cynics…
Being an Imagineer
Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things
1991: VR on Five Dollars a Day
CHI ‘91, and TomFurness asks a question…
Jon Snoddy I had to brief the Secretary
of Defense
Disney’s Aladdin project
Lunch with Jon… “ But you're in the business of telling stuff, and we're in the business of keeping secrets” He taught me: “wait, and people will surprise you.”
Our Villain; but all’s well that ends well
Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things
Aladdin
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Working on Aladdin VR
a once in five careers opportunity Forever changed me
real people, real HCI issues how to put engineers & artists
together
Really being an Imagineer…
and I said “no.”
Virtual Jungle Cruise
Enabling the ChildhoodDreams of Others
… or, “Boy, am I glad I became a professor!”
Building Virtual Worlds
50 students from art, design, drama, and CS
Randomly chosen teams, change per project
Two weeks to design, implement, and test
Five projects during the semester
The First Year Listed in Five Departments (I love CMU!)
Content: Anything you want No shooting violence No pornography
They blew me away w/first assignment
I called Andy van Dam
The first show In McConomy for its A/V President Cohon’s reaction
Campus-wide Exhibition
BVW was a pioneering course
And as they say…
Don Marinelli (Drama) Randy Pausch (CS)
The Dream Fulfillment Factory
Entertainment Technology Center (ETC)
Artists + Technologists workingin small teams to make things
2 year professional degree: Mastersof Entertainment Technology
Two kindred spirits: try things a new way; we’re both a little uncomfortable in academia
CMU is the only place I know where this could happen.
Right Brain / Left Brain
Don & I shared an office for six years
Co-Director Credit for the ETC’s Success
The ETC is to “masters degrees”as Cirque Du Soleil is to “circus”
ETC Curriculum: First Draft
Project Course
First Year Fall
Optional Internship
First Year Spring
Second Year Fall Second Year Spring
Project Course
Project CourseProject Course
ETC Curriculum
The Visual Story
Improvisational Acting
Intro to Entertainment Technology
Building Virtual Worlds
ETC Interdisciplinary Project Course II
Elective
First Year Fall
Optional Internship
First Year Spring
ETC Interdisciplinary Project Course III
Elective
ETC Interdisciplinary Project Course IV
Elective
Second Year Fall Second Year Spring
Key to the ETC’s Success: Freedom
No deans to report to
License to “Break the mold”
Project-based curriculum
Intense, fun student experience
Field trips!
Edutainment
Developed with FDNY Networked simulation
to train 1st responders to chemical spills and terrorist attacks
Companies guaranteed hiring our students
Don has taken the ETC global:Australia, Korea, Singapore
Keys to the ETC’s Success: Focus on People and Learning to work in Groups
Alice
The Infinitely Scalable Dream Factory
And I guess this makes me the mad hatter…
Alice
Novel way to teach Computer Programming
Kids make movies and games; the “head fake” is that they are learning to program
Over 1 million downloads, 8 textbooks, 10% of US colleges using right now
Alice is my Professional Legacy
Helping millions of kids have fun while learning something hard
v3.0 will release in 2008, in Java, with characters from the best-selling PC game in history: The Sims
Can’t mention everyone, but… Dennis Cosgrove is building it Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don
Slater are developing the pedagogy Caitlin Kelleher is going to hit the
home run with middle schoolers
Lessons Learned
The Roles of Parents, Mentors, and Students
My Dad, age 80
My Mom
The theory qualifier
My son, the doctor…
Other people who help us
Teachers
Mentors
Friends
Colleagues
Andy van Dam
Mythical creature
Dutch uncle-d me my sophomore year
Made me go to graduate school
My “Bosses”: Respect authority while questioning it
We learn from our students
The best “head fake” of all time – Caitlin’s idea about storytelling in Alice
More Lessons Learned
President Cohon’s Advice
Tell them about having FUN
Like a fish giving a talk about the importance of water
Decide if you’re Tigger or Eeyore
Never Lose the Child-like Wonder
Help others
Jessica Hodgins: The best gift ever
Denny Proffitt:Forgotten more than I’ll ever know
MK Haley:Limit case of my large family theory
“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible”
“Professor boy”
Loyalty is a two-way street
Never Give Up
Brown University – didn’t get in.
Carnegie Mellon for Graduate School – didn’t get in. Meeting with Nico
How to Get People to Help You
You can’t get there alone, and I believe in Karma
Tell the truth Be earnest Apologize when you screw up Focus on others, not yourself (an example…)
Brick walls let us show our dedication
Don’t bail; the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap
Get a feedback loop; and listen to it!
Show Gratitude
ETC admissions…How can you do this?
Don’t complain; just work harder.
Important Advice
Be good at something: it makes you valuable
Work hard … “what’s your secret?” Find the best in everybody; no matter how
you have to wait for them to show it Be prepared: “luck” is where preparation
meets opportunity
Today’s Talk
My childhood dreams Enabling the dreams of others Lessons learned: how you can achieve
your dreams or enable the dreams of others
How to achieve your dreams
Have you figured out the head fake?
How to achieve your dreams
Have you figured out the head fake?
How to lead your life
Have you figured out the second head fake?
Have you figured out the second head fake?
This talk wasn’t for you guys.
It was for Dylan, Logan, and Chloe.
Really Achieving Your Childhood
Dreams
Randy PauschCarnegie Mellon University
Sept 18, 2007