If you have one last lecture to give before you die, what would it be?
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I was reading Wall Street Journal at work today when I read this one: A Beloved Professor Delivers The Lecture of a Lifetime.
This story is about Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University computer-science professor, who was about to give a lecture Tuesday afternoon, but before he said a word, he received a standing ovation from 400 students and colleagues.
They had come to see him give what was billed as his “last lecture.” This is a common title for talks on college campuses today. Schools such as Stanford and the University of Alabama have mounted “Last Lecture Series,” in which top professors are asked to think deeply about what matters to them and to give hypothetical final talks. For the audience, the question to be mulled is this: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance?
Listen to this one:
So tell me, what do you think? What would your last lecture be all about?
UPDATE:
Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose “last lecture” about facing terminal cancer became an Internet sensation and a best-selling book, died Friday (July 25, 2008). He was 47.
Pausch died at his home in Virginia, university spokeswoman Anne Watzman said. Pausch and his family moved there last fall to be closer to his wife’s relatives.
Pausch was diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in September 2006. His popular last lecture at Carnegie Mellon in September 2007 garnered international attention and was viewed by millions on the Internet.
In it, Pausch celebrated living the life he had always dreamed of instead of concentrating on impending death.
“The lecture was for my kids, but if others are finding value in it, that is wonderful,” Pausch wrote on his Web site. “But rest assured; I’m hardly unique.”
The book “The Last Lecture,” written with Jeffrey Zaslow, leaped to the top of the nonfiction best-seller lists after its publication in April and remains there this week. Pausch said he dictated the book to Zaslow, a Wall Street Journal writer, by cell phone. The book deal was reported to be worth more than $6 million.
Popularity: 13% [?]
September 25th, 2007 at 2:57 am
he’s a great professor rainier, i was there during the lecture and the whole experience was unbelievable. very very strong person with an unbelievable leadership qualities. his homepage is this: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/
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September 25th, 2007 at 11:14 am
my last lecture will be about human existence in the light of God’s intervention in his lifetime and his journey— focusing more on the journey one must get through in life and the lessons that they can get from ordinariness of their existence. of course I will focus on my personal journey.
the catch of the lecture is, i would tell so many secrets of my life that I havent told anyone before. It wont be a lecture at all. it will be a testimony of how I, a mere sinner and weakling has triumphed everything in life through the grace of God, my own struggles to be human, reaching for my dreams and finding myself in the greater scheme of things. I can die right now actually (pero wag naman sudden death) because all I wanted in life is to die so that I can see face to face my master who created me. That is the best part of dying: all of your questions will be answered plus the eternal joy upon seeing him who is almighty and merciful…
that for me is the last lecture that I can give… siguro final word ko sa lecture ay: “I will see all of you in heaven”
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September 25th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
My last lecture? I will conduct a lecture about God’s Love. I will make it my exit mission to make people understand the ‘unconditional love’ that God has for us. The title will be: Agape, The Real Meaning of God’s Love.
My focus will be the moment that I realize His love for me knew no bounds. I may be a sinner or a saint but I am loved by Him in the same exact way.
This is my story. During the time that I was so confused about my sexuality and my faith, I got to know an Irish monk who became God’s instrument in helping me reconcile my faith and my sexuality. We would take long walks along the monastery grounds in the middle of winter and discuss why I had a hard time accepting that God loves me because of my sexuality and what other people made me believe - that being gay is a sin.
One winter snowy night, he gave me a one-on-one retreat. He had me sit in the middle of the chapel and played some background music for ambiance I guess. Then, he had me close my eyes and told me to imagine three chairs. I being seated in the middle.
While I pictured this in my head, he had me think of all the good things that I have done in my 24 years of being alive. I saw myself glistening in bright light knowing that the good actions that I had done were pleasing to Him. I saw myself as bright as the sun. The monk then instructed me to look at the chair on the right and imagine God sitting right there. He wanted me to tell him what God’s reaction was to MY GOOD SELF. I saw God’s face with this radiant smile and His hands outstretched in welcome to embrace me. It was an ecstatic sight.
By this time, I was already in tears. Similarly, the monk then asked me to think about the bad things that I have done in my 24 years. I saw my being gay as one of the bad things and I pictured myself as dirty, dark, gloomy and sinful. I was ashamed, I couldn’t even stare at my own image because of that. Then, the monk said, “Now look at the chair on the left and imagine God sitting there. Tell me what you see.”
I looked to my left and to my surprise, I saw the same exact face of God with his radiant smile and his outstretched hands ready to welcome me. I cried even more knowing that God did not care. He didn’t care whether I was a sinner or I was a saint, straight or gay, man or woman. He loved me regardless of all of that. At that exact moment, I accepted my sexuality and was able to reconcile it with my faith knowing full well that God’s love knows no bounds. I would like to impart the moment I knew what God’s Love felt like and how, in our own choosing could we understand its fullness.
“Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God - for God is love.”
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September 26th, 2007 at 2:36 am
can we peek into your little big secrets bluep? hehehe!
i knew you’d say something deep! it’s like the blocks that Pausch is talking about it - yours is the triumph over those blocks or odd as Pausch had said, that’s to keep the “other” people away.
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September 26th, 2007 at 2:37 am
chuva, sobraaaa!!! you never told me about this story!!! this calls for a tagaaayyyy!!!!
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September 26th, 2007 at 3:14 am
things come to mind at the moment that God want to reveal them. I never told you this story because it wasn’t the right time..
now - there it is.
God loves you Reyna!
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September 26th, 2007 at 3:14 am
nga pala, nagtagayan na kami nila gil and lee (plus my maid). Hinihintay ka namin.. pero hindi ka na bumalik.
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September 26th, 2007 at 5:57 am
Ulitin mo yang story na yan @ Short Hills, same place over a battol of wine, yon red na hindi bumubula! At gusto ko, gaya nong nakita ko sa wine tasting ni KC, dahil sigurado ako, hindi pepsi yon!
Pag-uwi ko pla kanina, mali ang pinasukan kong exit - as in, instead of 295 going to Jersey, ewan ko kung anong pinasukan ko dahil pag liko ko, bumulaga nalang saken ang Walt Whitman Bridge going to Philadelphia, eh, pag nag-uturn ako, sa river ang bagsak ko, kaya umuwi na lang ako! Neks time! Sa day-off kooo!!!
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September 27th, 2007 at 2:41 am
[…] was intrigued by an entry made by Reyna Elena on her site about Randy Pausch, a Carnegie-Mellon University Computer-Science […]
September 27th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Gusto ko makisawsaw sa lecture na to kahit na hinde ako masyadong magaling. Hehehe.
My lecture would be about ME, MYSELF and I. Alam ko kase na I can be an inspiration to others. Nyahahah. Ang hangin.
Seriously, my lecture would be about success — life, career and everything. kung paanong ang pinanganak na mahirap ay mamamatay ng mayaman…nyahahahha
eto talaga, seryos na, my last lecture would be about PASSION FOR GOD, COMPASSION FOR PEOPLE
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September 29th, 2007 at 11:30 am
hahaaha! Chuvaness,
I could only imagine your lecture, complete with costume and glitters and a magic wand! hahahah
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September 29th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
nyahaha…ifever na may ganyang chenes ako sa llife ko…may SANTA CRUZAN muna, alay ko para sayo…nyahahahha
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September 29th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
reynz - sabi mo sakin seryoso - ayan tuloy, nag-serious as a heart attack aketch.. eh yun pala charingan..
putcha naman - nagmukha tuloy akong santa santita sa entry ketch. puro naman pala lukrecia kasilag ang dating ditetch! si bluep kasi - siryus eh, nahawa tuloy aketch!
pag nagpa-SANTA CRUZAN ka chuvaness, ako ang hahawak ng lampara sa harap ng reyna okay — pero gusto ko, may korona din ako.. ano ko, papatalo - - heheh!!
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September 29th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
chuva,
kagagawan to ni chuvaness! hahaha! di ako ang me kasalanan nyan ano? hahaha
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September 30th, 2007 at 12:03 am
Ok, in fairness to you and bluep:
my last lecture would be all about the behind the scenes of all the risks that I tried and the fact that I was not afraid to try them and I was ridiculously hard headed that I dared not listen to my friends.
my last lecture would be to tell people that it pays to take risks no matter if you lose financially for money is immaterial, what’s important is that you can prove how strong relationships are despite the most challenging moments in life. Just like what Pausch said, these blocks keeps the “other” people away. meaning, with the risks that I tried, I found out that those relationships that i thought were for real? were just nothing but built on sand. boy, was i mistaken.
my last lecture will talk about the lessons about life. the life that I traversed. how i hid behind the cloth of manly manly man, who chickened out at the reality because i succumed to society’s pressure to who i should be when I am not, then finally coming out strong and realized that i missed a lot - shame on me for being a victim of my own cowardice!
my last lecture will talk about:
- my mentors, strangers who sort of adopted me, guided me and provided me the “flashlight” that i’ve been making some jokes
- my best friends who has some interesting perceptions of the fact that i am not like them, but that we’re able to circumnavigate the differences and still exist and be close as friends
- and how i will accept what’s due me because of blatant failures in my likfe
- and lastly, i’d talk about how crazy and funny i had become because of the situation i was put into.
Did you notice something?
My last lecture will bore you to death with all my blah blah blah blah blah blah blah…..
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September 30th, 2007 at 12:25 am
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ %-(
charing lang!!
Excellent! Nakakatuwa at magaling ang topic mo Reynz. It would be really cool dahil pinagdaanan mo rin at ang higit sa lahat, makakapagbigay lakas loob ka sa mga duwag na katulad ko - to take chances.
Haaay buhay! *Palakpak*
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September 30th, 2007 at 12:37 am
Oo nga! Di ako duwag! Limas naman ang aking salapi! Kaya ako naglalabada! Bwisit na buhay toooooooo!!!!
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