The Northeastern undergraduate Class of 2025 studied everything from American Sign Language to theater, completing courses in one — or more — of 329 possible majors and 199 combined majors.
But what did they really learn?
In the university’s annual Last Lecture, William Sharp, professor of psychology, summed it up in a top-10 list.
“I have lots of puns and some words in between them,” Sharp joked Thursday in Curry Ballroom on Northeastern’s Boston campus. “And for those of you who wanted a little bit of the wisdom part, here’s my attempt at that.”
The Last Lecture is a tradition that became popular in the mid-2000s after Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, delivered his final lecture at the school after discovering he had terminal cancer.
The lecture was turned into a book titled “The Last Lecture,” which became a New York Times bestseller in 2008. Since then, universities across the country have adopted their own last lectures for graduating students.
Sharp, a therapist and recently minted full professor as of Thursday morning — which he announced to applause — was selected by the Class of 2025 to deliver the Last Lecture.
The address blended humor, personal stories, reflections and wisdom — drawing on insights from figures as varied as Freud and Mr. Rogers — into a list titled “Things Your Bachelor’s Degree May Actually Have Taught You.”
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Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
