Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Last Lecture

My sister passed me this book, but the cover wasn't visually captivating enough for me to pick it up until recently, when my life seems to be rather aimless. I am glad I read it.

It is written by a Professor who teaches Virtual Reality in one of the most prestigious schools in the US, Carnegie Mellon. But it isn't about Virtual Reality. It is about reality - about life. From someone who is diagnosed of Pancreatic Cancer with only a few months to live, Randy Pausch tells in his last lecture about his childhood dreams, about achieving them, and how to help others achieve them. However, to prepare for that last lecture means taking time away from his family and kids, who were then 5, 2 and 1 years old . But it was an opportunity for him to sort out the things that were most important to him, and to leave his kids memories of their father and letting them know what he was like when he was alive.

As a parent, it is one the best books to get hold of. There are many lessons and wisdom to be learnt. I have jotted down some of his words in my journal. But there are just too many of them. It is worth reading the book another time. Better still, I have found videos on THE last lecture. If you do not have time to read the whole book, try to spend about 30 minutes watching this video from abc. Click on the title of this post or links to this post.

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