Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

This video was very interesting and inspiring. Randy Pausch is dying of cancer, yet he is so positive. He talks about his disease and how even though he does not have long to live, he is healthier than many people in the audience. I couldn't believe that he is so close to death and could do all of those push-ups! He talks about his childhood dreams and describes how he did or did not achieve those dreams. Then he gives us some lessons he learned in life.

Mr. Pausch described some of his childhood dreams to the audience. They sound like many dreams that little boys have. They were things like being in zero gravity, playing in the NFL, being like Captain Kirk, winning big stuffed animals, and being an imagineer with Disney. He accomplished some but not all of those dreams. Something that he said that really stuck out to me was that the two greatest things are achieving your dreams and enabling the dreams of others. Teachers help others enable their dreams every day. That is why I look forward to being a teacher.

Something else that he said which stuck out to me was that the best gift you can give someone is helping them become self reflective. This is true because when someone is self reflective, they see what their weak areas are and are able to work on those things. If a person is self reflective they can accomplish great things in life. He made a good point when he said that you have to decide if you are going to be a Tigger or an Eeyore in life. This is good advice because if you make a conscious effort to be positive, like Tigger, then you will not bring others down with your negativity, like Eeyore.

The techniques he advocates are: have fun, never give up, get feedback from other people because you can learn from it, don't complain-just work harder, show gratitude, work hard, find the best in everybody, be prepared, and "Don't bail; the best of gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap." He also said to be good at something because it makes you valuable. All of these techniques are good things for teachers to go by .

At the end of the video, Mr. Pausch revealed that he had done this "Last Lecture" not for the audience, but for his three kids. It was his advice for them to use in their life. He wanted to leave them something to remember him by. This is perhaps the most important thing he has done in his very successful life.