Randy Pausch: The Last Lecture
When I think of inspirational speeches, this is it. The fact that this man is dying of a such a fatal disease, and yet he is able to stay upbeat should, alone, motivate anyone. He states that we can not change the cards we are dealt, just the way we handle the game. He is definitely in charge of how he is handling his game, and throughout his lecture he makes many dynamics points.
He first refers to personal dreams of childhood. This is an easy time to dream, when anything is possible. It is where the fundamentals are taught, and hopefully one day appreciated. He makes numerous comments about being an encouraging professor. If teachers could be this focused on their students at an early age, encouraging dreams, think of what the quality of students could be at the college level. The next important step in his lecture is how to help others achieve their dreams. You may not get what you want, but you will get experience. Experience is necessary when you hit the brick walls that are meant to stop you. The brick walls will only stop people who do not want something bad enough.
The impact Randy Pausch has made on the students he has worked with will probably be one they never forget. Utilizing involvement of students in huge projects, such as the ETC program, is extremely beneficial. The hands-on experience and professional guidance they received will be something they take with them on the professional journey. The bar graphs he used as a self-reflective tool, is comparable to the necessary comments left for this class. Though it is difficult to take criticism, it logical to realize when the criticism stops, someone is giving up on you. That is so true, the comments that critique our process in this class is only helping us better achieve complimentary work.
After the dreams, comes the lessons learned. How you lead you life will consist of these three categories: childhood dreams, helping other achieve dreams, and lessons learned. Overall, giving everything you have to what means the most to you, and do not lose sight of what that is. Never lose your childhood wonders and always help others. Many of the items that were discussed in this lecture are ones people usually push to the side. If everyone held true to their dreams, there is no doubt this world would be more advanced than it already is.
I agree; he is a very motivational person to listen to. He had to figure out what he was going to do with his small amount of time left and he decided to give his most important students, his children, the gift of his lifetime of knowledge. He showed his children what work was important to him, but more importantly, he was able to share how to be successful in life. I loved what he said about “Don’t put the bar anywhere.” People talk about “raising the bar”, but he was right when he said if there is no bar “students will just keep going, keep growing.” If we take the “sky’s the limit” approach in our classrooms imagine what our students can achieve.
ReplyDeleteI liked your very concise summary of the Pausch lecture. As I've said in many other comments, this lecture speaks to all of us differently but the main thing is that it speaks. In this way I find this lecture to be almost, poetic.
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