Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" was delivered on September 18, 2007, at Carnegie Mellon University's McConomy Auditorium. Over 450 Carnegie Mellon students, staff members, and friends of Pausch attended the lecture, leaving only standing room as this was more than the auditorium could hold. Pausch later commented about this in an interview, saying "A couple of hundred people in a room, looking and listening and laughing and applauding – hopefully at the appropriate times – that gives a lot of validation to my kids that a lot of people believe in this, and a lot of people who knew me believe that I did my best to try to live this way." The first introduction of the speech as well as the series of lectures was given by Indira Nair, the Vice Provost for Education at Carnegie Mellon. Nair first explained the university's aforementioned lecture series called "Journeys", in which eight more professors from Carnegie Mellon would share their insights on their professional and personal experiences over the years.
Nik Wallenda
After talking briefly with reporters, Wallenda called his grandmother, who reportedly had been too frightened to watch the walk, in order to let her know he made it safely. In a news conference shortly thereafter, Wallenda remarked "I feel like I'm on cloud nine right now ... The impossible is not quite the impossible if you set your mind to it." He credited a combination of prayer, concentration, and preparation for his success.
On June 16, Engima Research estimated that one billion people had seen or heard about Wallenda's walk, up from an estimate of 410 million prior to the event. Niagara Falls, Ontario, mayor Jim Diodati declared that "the stars aligned perfectly" allowing the event hit its "full potential". Media representatives from Australia, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Korea, and the Middle East were on hand to cover the event. Overnight Nielsen Ratings indicated that the two-hour special was the most watched television broadcast in the United States for the night. Initial estimates put the show at a peak rating of 7.7, representing almost 13 million viewers during the last half-hour of the program. When final numbers were released, the viewership number was upped to 13.3 million for the final half-hour, and an average of 10.3 million for the entire two-hour special. Viewership peaked at around 16 million.