Randy Pausch is the epitome of leadership; a man who has shaped our culture's thought process on how to best appreciate life. When diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and told he had only a few months to live, he refused to fall prey to depression or sorrow and set out to teach the world his lessons of achieving childhood dreams and living every day to the fullest. Using his famous "Last Lecture" speech, Randy Pausch successfully educated and encouraged others to make the best of every situation given and take their lives into their own hands.

With personal dreams ranging from meeting Captain Kirk to working as a Disney Imagineer, Randy Pausch took control of his own life to make his goals a reality. Pausch received a bachelor's degree in computer science from Brown University in 1982, became an associate professor at the University of Virginia, and finally switched to Carnegie Mellon to teach. Using his knowledge and love of the computer sciences, Pausch started the Building Virtual Worlds course at Carnegie Mellon, created the "Alice" software project to make 3D computer designing simple, and vigorously applied to Disney for an Imagineer position. Despite the polite rejection letters he received, Pausch refused to "no" for an answer. "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted," he said. Continuing his studies of virtual design, he finally came up with several ideas the Imagineers were interested in and was offered a job. Although Pausch ultimately ended up declining the invitation to join the company for reasons unbeknownst to us, through hard work and perseverance he was able to take charge of his own life and make his dreams a reality.

Randy Pausch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006 and was told in August of 2007 that he only had three to six months left to live. Taking the usual human reaction to such news and throwing it out the window, Pausch chose to use his personal experience to help others. On September 18, 2007, he delivered his famous and inspirational "Last Lecture" speech at Carnegie Mellon in hopes to show others the reality of their own dreams and the best way to handle tough situations in life. "We cannot change the cards we are dealt," he encouraged, "Just how we play the hand." Before his death, Pausch reached out to aid others in situations similar to his and worked to achieve more federal funding for pancreatic cancer from the United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and other agencies.

Sadly, Randy Pausch finally died as a result of his terminal pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008. With his inspirational "Last Lecture," Pausch greatly influenced the way our generation looks at life and accomplishing dreams. Instead of succumbing to his "brick walls" as he called them, he leapt over them, refused to pity himself, and used the remainder of his life to aid others. Randy Pausch is more than a leader; he was a social super power and an extraordinary human being. "I'm dying," he spoke lightly, "And I'm having fun. And I am going to keep having fun every day I have left because there's no other way to play it."

•  Track: League Finals May 15, 2009 beginning @ 10 a.m.

•  Cheer: Try-outs May 16, 2009 @ 9 am-12 pm in the activity gym

•  Track finals before school finals
Similar to the school year, U-Prep’s high school track season is coming to an end, but before the season concludes, some of our track athletes are finishing what they started in league finals ... Click Here to read more.

•  Soccer success
The varsity soccer team had a spectacular season this year and their coach could not be more proud of what they have accomplished as a team.... Click Here to read more.

•  NBA playoffs
The 2009 NBA playoffs are currently down to two east and two west teamsn.... Click Here to read more.

• Shasta County among nation's top 10 in unemployment
Shasta County has gained the distinction of placing among the top ten counties in the United States... Click Here to read more.

•How not to die from the Swine Flu
As one is sure to know, the world is currently plagued by an outbreak of... Click Here to read more.

•  EARTH QUAKES IN EUROPE
Italy was struck with a massive blow on April 6th, 2009 as a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit... Click Here to read more.

•  The escape from high school
A college acceptance letter is equivalent to a get out of jail free card, except it’s not exactly free. Senior year is known for slacking of ...Click Here to read more.

•  Top Notch Teacher
Mr. Juan Cabral, the economist, the government activist, and the ethics teacher here at U-Prep is quite the well rounded individual. in the subject. Click Here to read more.

•  Ready, set, action
Mainly because of his four legged stance and abundant fur, there is a new student at U-Prep who doesn’t really fit in with the crowd.  Our new addition is a yellow Labrador retriever named Dagwood.  Click Here to read more.

•  Mother Nature Provides Cure for Dangerous Disease
On May 18, 2009, the entire seventh grade class of University Preparatory was absent from school. However, Mrs. Stuart seemed nonchalant and Mrs. O’Leary took little heed to this development... Click Here to read more.

•  Day Dreaming Machine
“Creativity is born from a ripe imagination where even the most beautiful absurdity is possible,” Melissa Gambino (12) states... Click Here to read more.

•  Confronting Teachers is Harder than it Seems
Run it by Rumi is the latest addition to our school’s On the Prowl online newspaper! That’s right, we now have our very own advice column! Here at On the Prowl, we are striving to give you the very best responses to your most relevant and important inquiries... Click Here to read more.