Inspiration: The Last Lecture Lives On
Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch was known by many for his Last Lecture, which was viewed by and inspired over 10 million people. His main message was for people to live life to the fullest. “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
If you haven’t seen the lecture, I strongly encourage you to watch it in full: The Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.
Shortly before giving his last lecture, Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and told that he had just months to live.
Pausch spent some of his last days in to Washington, as an advocate, urging politicians for more and more creative funding for pancreatic cancer research. A little over two years ago, he passed away, leaving behind his wife Jai and three young children.
Today, Randy’s eight-year-old son Dylan is carrying on his father’s legacy. Following in his dad’s footsteps, Dylan is joining the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to lobby Congress to increase funding for research.
Jai sums up the impact this work has on Dylan: “I think it’s wonderful for him to see that, individually, we have power as an American to make a difference. I think this helps him say, “Wow, I can do something. Maybe I can’t bring my dad back to life, but I can help other people.”
8-month-old baby Jonathan was born deaf, but through the magic of a cochlear implant, is able to hear sound. The following clip is the moment when the implant is activated and he hears sound and his mother’s voice for the first time. You can see his eyes light up and his jaw drop. The beauty of life.
Many of us, myself included, take hearing for granted. I can’t really imagine a life without music and sounds.
Over the past few weeks, on my daily morning drive from home (San Mateo) to South San Francisco for my summer internship, I’ve seen the sun fade away and the fog roll in.
If you’re familiar with the Bay Area, SSF is known to be rather windy, and it has certainly lived up to that reputation this summer. Sometimes, it’s also been foggy and overcast too.
Despite hitting stop-and-go traffic everyday on the drive back home from work, there’s always a moment when I just breathe a sigh of relief and just smile to myself in my car. It’s when I finally get past the fog and see the sun peek out from the clouds. Instantly brightens my day :)
