Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
Randy Pausch’s last lecture was astonishing! For those of you who are unfamiliar with Randy Pausch, he was a motivational speaker, professor at Carnegie Mellon University and a Disney Imagineer. He co-founded the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), which is a two-year master’s program in entertainment technology at Carnegie Mellon University. Randy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006, however, he did not let his diagnosis keep him from enjoying life. In this final speech of his, titled "Really Living Your Childhood Dreams" which was given in front of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University in 2007, Randy doesn’t discuss cancer, religion, or his family and kids. He discussed achieving your childhood dreams and enabling the dreams of others.
First, Randy talks about his childhood dreams. He mentions how he wanted to be an NFL player, win stuffed animals, float in zero gravity, and to become a Disney Imagineer. Randy accomplished some of these dreams through perseverance and persistence. He said “Brick walls are there for a reason. They let us prove how badly we want something.” I could not agree more with this quote! I believe if you want something bad enough, you will end up accomplishing that dream as long as you put forth the effort for it. Hard work does pay off in the long run. You may have to go through some obstacles but you will soon succeed.
Secondly, Randy talks about enabling the dreams of others. Every one of us has a dream about something that we like to achieve in life. For some it may be to graduate from college, for others it may be to climb Mt. Everest. I think we should respect each other’s dreams and wishes. Randy said, “When people give feedback, cherish it and use it.” We should not take all criticism to heart, but take criticism and use it to better ourselves. This knowledge will be beneficial for me once I begin teaching. I want to help my students succeed in life. I do not want my students to feel like they cannot accomplish their dreams. I want to push my students towards success, since they will become the leaders of the future.
Randy Pausch had such great advice throughout this video. One quote that really struck me is when he said, “Be good at something, it makes you valuable.” We each have our own special talents that make us unique. Therefore, we should use that talent and not let it go to waste. Overall, I have learned to never give up on my dreams or to dismiss my future students' dreams. I have also learned that perseverance is the key when it comes to success.
If you have an hour or so to spare, be sure to watch Randy Pausch’s last lecture video. It is time well spent!
Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteVery good post. You did a thorough job of highlighting the critical points of the Last Lecture and you incorporated your own thoughts in the process. Plus, you write well and I love not being distracted by spelling errors or badly worded sentences. Keep up the great work!
I think this is a very well-written post. You have very good flow, as well as organization. In addition, you did a great job summarizing the lecture. I really enjoyed reading your thoughts because of how motivated you sound to incorporate Dr. Pausch's tips into your teaching. I also liked how you connect with your readers and express your opinions, giving the reader something to think about. My favorite part was the first four sentences of the third paragraph. It gave me a different perspective on the subject. Even though you did not have any spelling errors, I did find some grammar mistakes. I don't mean to be picky, but I want to pinpoint some of these mistakes so you don't repeat them in the future. Avoid run-on sentences, such as in "Randy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006, however, he did not..." and "For some it may be to graduate from college, for others it...". Use a period or semicolon instead. Be sure you check your tenses. For example, in the first paragraph you wrote, "Randy doesn’t discuss...". Last, look out for a missing comma before a dialogue or conjunction.
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