The Last Lecture

Pausch begins this section with a short anecdote about being charged twice at the grocery store. Rather than contesting the charge with the store’s manager, he walked out, happier “to have fifteen minutes than sixteen dollars” (108). Since he has been given a death sentence with his cancer diagnosis, he has been made “very aware that time is finite” (108). But even before his terminal diagnosis, he made a point of managing his time well. He even provides a helpful list of advice:

• Time must be explicitly managed, like money.
• You can always change your plan, but only if you have one.
• Ask yourself: Are you spending your time on the right things?
• Develop a good filing system.
• Rethink the telephone.
• Delegate.
• Take a time out (108-10).

He ends the chapter by reminding us that “time is all we have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think” (111).

Chapter 24 introduces some of Pausch’s teaching philosophy: He believes “educators best serve students by helping them be more self-reflective” (112). In other words, we all must learn to judge ourselves accurately. Pausch has even come up “with mechanical ways to get people to listen to feedback” (112), especially since his students are often assigned to work in groups. One of the most effective ways for students to judge themselves is to subject them to honest peer feedback. Over time, this helps students see how they’ve improved in their ability to work with others. At the end of the chapter, Pausch admits that he is a “recovering jerk” (116) because he has learned this very lesson for himself. Using the example of Andy van Dan, he tells his students that he once had a teacher who expressed his care and concern by “by smacking the truth into [his] head” (116). By having students work in groups and participate in peer evaluations, he encourages them to work together and ponder what it takes to be someone who is good to work with. This is part of his goal of empowering others to achieve their dreams.