Passing on Life Lessons
The introduction of the article is below:
On September 18, 2007, computer science professor Randy Pausch stepped to the podium to deliver a lecture just a few weeks after learning that he had only three to six months to live. More than 400 people packed the auditorium at Carnegie Mellon University to hear Professor Pausch’s “Last Lecture.” Rather than focusing on his imminent death from pancreatic cancer, he spent 76 minutes sharing with the audience dreams, stories, and life lessons. Arguing that “life’s brick walls are there to show us how badly we really want something,” Pausch described how he had achieved his childhood dreams, including being in zero gravity, designing Disney theme park rides, meeting Captain Kirk from Star Trek, and writing a World Book Encyclopedia article. The lecture became an immediate phenomenon. More than nine million people have viewed the lecture on the Internet, and 2.8 million copies of his book documenting the event are in print in 12 languages.
The article mentions that while not everyone will have such a dramatic exit, everyone can prepare an ethical will to pass on stories and life lessons.