The Last Lecture

Pausch’s wife Jai was reluctant for Pausch to give this last lecture. Once Pausch received his terminal status, he only have three to six months to spend with her and their children. The date he was to give his last lecture was also her birthday, the last one they would spend together. However, she was eventually supported his decision to give the lecture because he needed to do it. Pausch first introduces Jai as “always [being his] cheerleader” (4). One of the qualities that Pausch respected most about their relationship was their honesty. He states that they “work hard at [their] marriage” (202) because they were both able to share their feelings openly with each other, even when things were difficult. Jai and Pausch both agreed to take a positive approach to Pausch’s illness and to encourage each other through it. He believes she has handled his diagnosis “pretty well,” though it pains both of them that they “won’t get to experience [the] richness in [their] marriage for very long” (202).

Pausch has the utmost respect for his parents, believing he hit the “parent lottery.” He attributes his ability to accomplish a lot of his childhood dreams to his parents’ encouragement to reach for what he wanted. They also gave him the freedom to explore his own imagination through activities like drawing whatever he wanted on his bedroom walls. Pausch admits that he quotes his father nearly every day, which reveals the special reverence he has for his father’s wisdom. His parents were also role models of service, which inspired Pausch’s belief in communitarianism; this is especially evident in Fred’s involvement with helping new immigrants.

Pausch’s “old school” football coach taught him several important life lessons, not just game strategy on the field, and Pausch especially appreciated his toughness. Coach Graham taught Pausch the importance of resilience and working assertively toward achieving his goals. Though the book’s premise is about accomplishing childhood dreams, it seems Pausch learned the most from his weaknesses and failures while playing football. Even though Pausch didn’t make the NFL, he learned what’s necessary to succeed and that failure doesn’t have to stop a person from “playing.” Even though Pausch hasn’t seen Coach Graham since he was 10 years old, he keeps “showing up in [his] head, forcing [him] to work harder…forcing [him] to be better” (18).The most memorable thing that Pausch learned from Coach Graham was the concept of the head fake, which Graham was the master of executing.