Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Randy Pausch Carnegie Mellon University Sept 18, 2007

The elephant in the room

Im not in denial

And Im in good health now

What were not talking about

Cancer Things more important than childhood dreams: my wife and kids Spirituality & Religion

My

deathbed conversion

Todays Talk
My childhood dreams Enabling the dreams of others Lessons learned: how you can achieve your dreams or enable the dreams of others

My Childhood Dreams

My Childhood Dreams

Being in zero gravity Playing in the NFL Authoring an article in the World Book encyclopedia Being Captain Kirk Winning stuffed animals Being a Disney Imagineer

Being in zero gravity

The vomit comet

Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things

Football

Dream: play in the NFL Coach Graham practice with no football fundamentals him riding me all practice

Coach Setliff

Power of enthusiasm

To this day, I am most comfortable on a football field

I Never Made it to the NFL

But football got me where I am today Fundamentals & Hard Work Experience is what you get when you didnt get what you wanted Most of what we learn, we learn indirectly (or by head fake)

Being an author in the World Book Encyclopedia

Meeting Being like Captain Kirk

Dream

Being Captain Kirk

Its cool to meet your boyhood idol.

Winning Stuffed Animals

I can hear the cynics

Being an Imagineer

Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things

1991: VR on Five Dollars a Day

CHI 91, and Tom Furness asks a question

Jon Snoddy

I had to brief the Secretary of Defense Disneys Aladdin project Lunch with Jon
But you're in the business of telling stuff, and we're in the business of keeping secrets He taught me: wait, and people will surprise you.

Our Villain; but alls well that ends well

Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things

Aladdin

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Working on Aladdin VR
a

once in five careers opportunity Forever changed me

real people, real HCI issues how to put engineers & artists together

Really being an Imagineer and I said no.

Virtual Jungle Cruise

Enabling the Childhood Dreams of Others

or, Boy, am I glad I became a professor!

Building Virtual Worlds

50 students from art, design, drama, and CS

Randomly chosen teams, change per project Two weeks to design, implement, and test

Five projects during the semester

The First Year

Listed in Five Departments (I love CMU!)

Content: Anything you want

No shooting violence No pornography

They blew me away w/first assignment

I called Andy van Dam

The first show

In McConomy for its A/V President Cohons reaction

Campus-wide Exhibition

BVW was a pioneering course

And as they say

The Dream Fulfillment Factory

Don Marinelli (Drama)

Randy Pausch (CS)

Entertainment Technology Center (ETC)

Artists + Technologists working in small teams to make things 2 year professional degree: Masters of Entertainment Technology Two kindred spirits: try things a new way; were both a little uncomfortable in academia

CMU is the only place I know where this could happen.

Right Brain / Left Brain

Don & I shared an office for six years

Co-Director Credit for the ETCs Success

The ETC is to masters degrees as Cirque Du Soleil is to circus

ETC Curriculum: First Draft

First Year Fall First Year Spring

Project Course

Project Course

Optional Internship

Second Year Fall

Second Year Spring

Project Course

Project Course

ETC Curriculum
First Year Fall
The Visual Story Improvisational Acting Intro to Entertainment Technology Building Virtual Worlds

First Year Spring

ETC Interdisciplinary Project Course II Elective

Optional Internship Second Year Fall

ETC Interdisciplinary Project Course III Elective

Second Year Spring

ETC Interdisciplinary Project Course IV Elective

Key to the ETCs Success: Freedom

No deans to report to License to Break the mold Project-based curriculum Intense, fun student experience Field trips!

Edutainment

Developed with FDNY Networked simulation to train 1st responders to chemical spills and terrorist attacks

Companies guaranteed hiring our students

Don has taken the ETC global: Australia, Korea, Singapore

Keys to the ETCs Success: Focus on People and Learning to work in Groups

Alice The Infinitely Scalable Dream Factory

And I guess this makes me the mad hatter

Alice

Novel way to teach Computer Programming Kids make movies and games; the head fake is that they are learning to program

Over 1 million downloads, 8 textbooks, 10% of US colleges using right now

Alice is my Professional Legacy

Helping millions of kids have fun while learning something hard v3.0 will release in 2008, in Java, with characters from the bestselling PC game in history: The Sims Cant mention everyone, but

Dennis Cosgrove is building it Wanda Dann, Steve Cooper, Don Slater are developing the pedagogy Caitlin Kelleher is going to hit the home run with middle schoolers

Lessons Learned

The Roles of Parents, Mentors, and Students

My Dad, age 80

My Mom

The theory qualifier My son, the doctor

Other people who help us

Teachers
Mentors Friends Colleagues

Andy van Dam

Mythical
Dutch

creature

uncle-d me my sophomore year

me go to graduate school

Made

My Bosses: Respect authority while questioning it

We learn from our students

The

best head fake of all time Caitlins idea about storytelling in Alice

More Lessons Learned

President Cohons Advice

Tell them about having FUN Like a fish giving a talk about the importance of water

Decide if youre Tigger or Eeyore

Never Lose the Child-like Wonder

Help others

MK Haley: Limit case of my large family theory Its kind of fun to do the impossible Professor boy

Denny Proffitt: Forgotten more than Ill ever know

Jessica Hodgins: The best gift ever

Loyalty is a two-way street

Never Give Up

Brown University didnt get in. Carnegie Mellon for Graduate School didnt get in.
Meeting

with Nico

How to Get People to Help You

You cant get there alone, and I believe in Karma

Tell the truth Be earnest Apologize when you screw up Focus on others, not yourself (an example)

Brick walls let us show our dedication

Dont bail; the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap

Get a feedback loop; and listen to it!

Show Gratitude

How can you do this?

ETC admissions

Dont complain; just work harder.

Important Advice
Be good at something: it makes you valuable Work hard whats your secret? Find the best in everybody; no matter how you have to wait for them to show it Be prepared: luck is where preparation meets opportunity

Todays Talk
My childhood dreams Enabling the dreams of others Lessons learned: how you can achieve your dreams or enable the dreams of others

How to achieve your dreams

Have you figured out the head fake?

How to achieve your dreams

Have you figured out the head fake?

How to lead your life

Have you figured out the second head fake?

Have you figured out the second head fake? This talk wasnt for you guys. It was for Dylan, Logan, and Chloe.

Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Randy Pausch Carnegie Mellon University Sept 18, 2007