Randy Pausch
Pausch delivered his "Last Lecture", titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams", at CMU on September 18, 2007. He gave an abridged version of his speech on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in October 2007. The talk was modeled after an ongoing series of lectures where top academics are asked to think deeply about what matters to them, and then give a hypothetical "final talk", with a topic such as "what wisdom would you try to impart to the world if you knew it was your last chance?" Before speaking, Pausch received a long standing ovation from a large crowd of over 400 colleagues and students. When he motioned them to sit down, saying, "Make me earn it", someone in the audience shouted back, "You did!"
Three Chimneys Farm
In April 2008, The Kentucky region of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Three Chimneys Farm teamed up to grant a young boy's wish of meeting Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Smarty Jones. His experience was chronicled June 30 during SportsCenter's "My Wish" series on ESPN. Nine-year-old Patrick Munro of Greenlawn, N.Y. is one of five kids from the Make-A-Wish Foundation whose sports-related wish was highlighted on the SportsCenter series. Patrick, who suffers from hydrocephalus and, as a result, is blind and hearing impaired, spent several days in Central Kentucky in April. On the first day of his visit, Munro and his family were invited to Three Chimneys Farm to fulfill the boy's wish to meet Smarty Jones.