Chapter 1
Randy Pausche has just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He is a husband and a father of two young children. He has decided to do a last lecture at Carnegie Mellon about achieving your childhood dreams. I would like to ask Randy how he told his children about the devestating news and how he was feeling when he did.
Chapter 2
Randy is working on his last lecture and is starting to fear if his lecture is going to connect with the students or not. I would like to ask Randy how he decided on what to say. Also, Randy had to leave on his wife's birhday to make the lecture. I would like to know how he could make the difficult decision to leave his wife on the last birthday he would get to spend with her.
Chapter 3.
Randy is just starting his "last lecture" and he is very nervous. I couldn't imagine how he must be feeling. He only has a few more months to live and he just moved to a new home. I know this would be very hard. Also, I wonder what his wife is thinking as she is sitting in the audience watching his lecture.
Chapter 4
Randy's parents were some of the greatest parents he could ask for. I am wondering when Randy realized he had so much to learn from his parents. Was it when he got the news of his cancer? If so, do most people take their great parents for granted?
Chapter 5
Randy has always been an imagineer. I'm wondering how he got the dream to become a lecturer. He even got the idea to paint things on his walls to make them unique.
Chapter 6
One dream that Randy always had was to be in zero gravity. When he finally got to accomplish this dream in 2001 when his group at Carnegie Mellon proposed a project using virtual reality. I want to ask Randy how being in zero gravity actually felt. Was it exactly as he had dreamed all those years as a kid?
Chapter 7
Randy never did acomplish his lifelong goal to be in the NFL. Despite this, Randy did learn some valuble lessons in tackle football as a kid. His coach was quite harsh and never let the boys slack off. He pushed the to their limits. He learned that "If you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they have given up on you." I would like to know where Coach Graham was today and if he is still teaching tackle football to kids.
Chapter 8
Another one of Randy's dreams was to author an article in the World Book encyclopedia. He finally accomplished that dream by writing the "Virtual Reality" portion in the encyclopedia. I want to know how he got chosen for this. I also want to know why no one checked his work to make sure it'true.s
Chapter 9
One of Randy's childhood dreams was to be Catain James T. Kirk off of Star Trek. Randy got to meet William Shatner (the actor of Captain Kirk) when he built a virtual reality world that resembled the Enterprise. When Shatner heard of Randy's diagnosis he sent him a picture of himself as Captain Kirk and wrote on it "I don't believe in the no win scenerio." I love that Shatner was nice enough to do that and made Randy's dream come true.
Chapter 10
Randy always loved amusement parks. When he was younger he always wanted to be the kid with the biggest stuffed animal at the park. During his last lecture he gave away some of his stuffed animals. A girl with cancer got a giant elephant. She got the "elephant in the room." I would like to know how that girl is doing now.
Chapter 11
It was always Randy's dream to become and engineer for Disney World. He applied there after he got his docterate degree and was unfourtunetly denied. Despite this, he kept trying and eventually got to do a sabbatical at Disney World
Chapter 12
In this chapter Randy learns he has only months to live. He has multiple tumors and the doctors have basically lost hope. "The park is open UNTIL 8:00 p.m."
Chapter 13
Even though Randy only has months to live he still loves life and is in high spirits. He knows he has to make everyday count and not be grim. I wonder how he can keep this outlook after everything.
Chapter 14
Randy admits that sometimes he can be arrogant. He was told this in his past by some friends and he is really glad they took the time to tell him. Since they told him it let him grow as a person and work on his personal flaws. I want to know how he stayed so calm and didn't get mad when his friends told him this.
Chapter 15
Andy loves his niece and nephew. They gave him a chance to see them grow since he wont see his kids past the age of six. I want to know how Randy can handle knowing he's not going to see his kids soon.
Chapter 16
Randy and Jai got off to a rough start. She had been previously married and he was thirty seven when they eventually met.
Chapter 17
Randy and Jai left their wedding in a hot air balloon. They alomst had an accident where the balloon crashed into a train. Luckily, nothing bad happened. I want to know how thety got the idea to ride off in a hot air balloon.
Chapter 18
I liked this chapter because Randy believes that if it is not broken don't fix it. Jai accidentally dented their two cars and she says she will pay for the repairs. Randy disagrees saying "The cars still work. No need to spend the extra money to make them look better." He also says "Not everything needs to be fixed." I personally love that quote from the book.
Chapter 19
In this chapter Randy and Jai have their first child. The birth was complicated and could have been fatal. After the labor they both agree to just go with the flow and believe everything will work out for the best. I love this attitude and hope to have the same one in my future marriage some day.
Chapter 20
Randy's father passed away in 2006. Randy's father had been in the army and had risked his life to save many of his men. He earned a bronze star for valor for his actions. In all his life Randy's father had never told anyone this. I love that because he was just doing a rightfull duty and didn't want the glory.