What are Randy Pausch's childhood dreams and how did he achieve them?The Last Lecture

Pausch addresses several childhood dreams and how they
impacted his life. Most he was able to achieve in some form, but he learned from all of
them, realized or not.

Pausch dreamed of playing football
in the NFL. This dream did not come to pass, but he learned how to work hard, how to
struggle in spite of challenges and difficulties, and how to overcome obstacles while
working toward a goal from his football coaches.

Pausch
dreamed of experiencing the weightlessness of being in outer space. His work with
creating virtual reality environments led to creation of a situation in which
weightlessness could be simulated, but it appeared at first that he would not be allowed
to accompany his students in their experience of that setting. By resigning as their
instructor and getting a job as a reporter covering their story, Pausch was able to join
them in feeling zero gravity.

Pausch dreamed of being
Captain Kirk of the Star Trek series. While he never became the fictional character, he
did have the opportunity to meet William Shatner, the actor who portrayed Captain Kirk,
and did visit the Star Trek set. As another byproduct of his work with virtual reality
simulation, Pausch was able to spend time working for Disney as an imagineer at Disney
World.

In the final analysis, Pausch achieved his childhood
dreams by refusing to accept roadblocks in his path. He accepted them as challenges and
found ways around them, always focussed on the ultimate goal.