Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

[5] The lecture was upbeat and humorous, alternating between wisecracks, insights on computer science and engineering education, advice on building multi-disciplinary collaborations, working together with other people, offering inspirational life lessons, and performing push-ups on stage.

[10] On April 9, 2008, the ABC network aired an hour-long Diane Sawyer feature on Pausch entitled "The Last Lecture: A Love Story For Your Life".

[11] Four days after his death from pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008, ABC aired a tribute to Pausch, remembering his life and his famous lecture.

[13] At the University of Virginia, he gave a lecture on the importance of making technology more user friendly, in which he made his point by showing a VCR (video cassette recorder) that was hard to program and then smashing it with a sledgehammer.

[14] "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" was the first lecture of the nine part "Journeys" series presented by Carnegie Mellon, which included speakers Raj Reddy, Jay Apt, and Jared Cohon, the university president.

[15] The lecture series focused on university staff member's professional journeys and the decisions and challenges they faced.

In an interview, Pausch stated that he had felt bloated, and discovered that he had a cancerous tumor when doctors performed a CT Scan to check for gallstones.

[17] Pausch was offered the lecture around the time when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and had received news that he only had months left to live.

[18] Pausch nearly cancelled the lecture due to his disease, but discussed the offer with his wife and decided to accept the opportunity to share his thoughts with the world.

[23] Over 450 Carnegie Mellon students, staff members, and friends of Pausch attended the lecture, leaving standing room only.

[28] Seabolt concluded his introduction by describing Pausch, saying that "Randy's dedication to making the world a better place is self evident to anyone who has crossed paths with him.

"[32] Pausch explained having pancreatic cancer and only having 3 to 6 months to live, but joked that he was in the best shape of his life (and "better than most of you [the audience]"), proceeding to do a series of push-ups on stage while speaking.

They were: being in zero gravity, playing in the National Football League, being the author of a World Book Encyclopedia article, being Captain Kirk, being "one of the guys who won the big stuffed animals in the amusement park", and becoming a Disney Imagineer.

[44] Pausch concluded the section with the story of his becoming an Imagineer at Disney,[45] as well as his achieving the goal of "being one of those guys who wins stuffed animals", at a carnival with his wife and children.

He eventually worked with Lucasfilm on three Star Wars films: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith.

[52] This led Pausch to teach a virtual reality class at Carnegie Mellon, to help them realize their childhood dreams.

[59] He then announced that Carnegie Mellon would build a pedestrian bridge named for Pausch in honor of his contributions to the university and to the world.

The bridge connected Carnegie Mellon's new Computer Science building and the Center for the Arts, a symbol of the way Pausch linked those two areas.

Finally, Brown University professor Andries van Dam followed Pausch's last lecture with a tearful and impassioned speech praising him for his courage and leadership, calling him a role model.

[60] His "Last Lecture" attracted wide attention on international media,[61] became an internet hit, and was viewed over a million times within its first month.

[9] On October 22, 2007, Pausch appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where he discussed his diagnosis and recapped his "Last Lecture" for millions of TV viewers.

[4] On October 6, 2007, Pausch joined the Pittsburgh Steelers for their regular practice, after the organization learned that one of his childhood dreams mentioned in his "Last Lecture" was to play in the National Football League.

[63][64] On April 9, 2008, the ABC network aired an hour-long Diane Sawyer feature on Pausch entitled "The Last Lecture: A Love Story For Your Life".

[67] The book was well-received, eventually earning the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list in the "Advice" category during the week of June 22, 2008.